The Perfect Mate A Story About Sesshomaru
by Eithne19
Summary: Naraku is dead. Sesshomaru has Bakusaiga. So what is there for our favourite Lord to do now? Maybe a young youkai female by the name of Mayuri can help Sesshomaru find that out. Maybe Sesshomaru has finally found his Perfect Mate.
1. Chapter 1

How long had it been now since Naraku's timely demise?

Four years? Four and a half?

It mattered not.

That foul hanyou, a retched stain on this earth had finally been destroyed.

Not once had there ever been such peace within his life.

For years his drive, his purpose, was to have his father's sword, the Tetsusaiga, as his own. A purpose he had long since deserted.

He no longer needed his father's power for now he had his own and it had surpassed that of the great Inu no Taisho. He had his own sword now.

The Bakusaiga.

Sesshomaru rested his hand upon its hilt.

Now it seemed, he no longer had a purpose.

Maybe this was that ever so famous time in one's life that he heard of so often; the time when one wanted to "settled down."

Sesshomaru instantly scoffed at the idea. As if there could ever be a female on this earth worthy of him. Of his power.

If ever he was to come across such a female, he would mate her right then and there!

A female of such a high caliber would be rare and damn near impossible to find.

Sesshomaru had had many trysts with the female sex and not one had lasted more than a night.

The great Lord Sesshomaru needed a woman who thought highly of herself and, unlike other females he had bedded, would not lower herself to the standards they had.

Those women were so desperate to feel his flesh between their thighs they near begged him to bed them within minutes of them meeting.

Of course, he obliged.

Now Sesshomaru needed something more… permanent.

Besides, these days Sesshomaru found it more and more unfulfilling bedding random women.

Catching the scent of water on the air, Sesshomaru decided to make a short stop to take a bath.

As he grew closer to the water, he picked up the scent of another yokai and this yokai was female.

A smirk crept across his face. Bedding random females had not become _that_ unfulfilling. Maybe he'd have a quick rut followed by a bath.

At the water's edge, sitting atop a large stone, was the female whom he wished to bed. Her back was to him and she too seemed to have the same idea to have a bath at this river, for she though she was clothed, here she sat combing her wet hair.

Slowly Sesshomaru approached the river's edge.

Finding a suitable stone he stripped off the layers of his clothing, folding them and resting them upon it.

"Jaken." He called and the small, green kappa yokai immediately came forth, taking Bakusaiga from his master so he could bathe.

Before stepping into the crystal clear water that was sure to be ice cold, Sesshomaru glanced towards the female and was glad to find that she was observing him already. Looking right into her face he could see that her eyes were green and her lips full. A small collection of freckles sat upon her dainty nose.

From here he could see that she was not fully clothed. She wore only a blue haori with three thin black stripes on each sleeve and a black obi.

Not once, Sesshomaru realized, did her eyes drift downwards to examine his naked form. An unusual occurrence. Most females he had come across, once seeing that he had become naked, instantly took their gaze down south.

He smiled inwardly.

And not once had he had any complaints.

Blinking, she turned her attention away from Sesshomaru and continued to comb her hair.

His eyes narrowed.

Normally, a female would have done some overtly sexual gesture. She did not.

Sliding his lithe body into the river's water, Sesshomaru continued to gaze upon the beauty before him.

And what a beauty she was.

With the water now just at his hips, Sesshomaru walked over to her.

"Care to join me?" He asked in his silken voice.

She said nothing. She didn't even shift her gaze to acknowledge he had said something.

He cocked his head to the side as he continued to examine her. Nowhere near her did he see a hakama so that had to mean she did not plan on wearing one. Leaning against the side of the stone she sat on was a sword in a black sheath. The hilt was red and a small chain hung off of it.

"Care for me to join you?" Sesshomaru asked as he started to get out of the water.

At a speed that startled him, she picked up her sword and pulled it from its sheath, pointing the tip at his chest.

"No I do not. " She said a fierce look in her eye.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken screeched as he ran towards his master to arm him.

Sesshomaru held up his hand, palm facing Jaken.

Now this was a definite first. No woman had ever resisted his advances and certainly not with such ferocity. Oh she was very different from most females he came across.

"I do not wish to harm you," he began his voice low and smooth "Only to pleasure you."

Her eyes narrowed in disgust.

Who did this yokai think he was?

He obviously had a superiority complex and seemed to think that just because she was a female she would love nothing more than to be pleasured by him. Well that was not about to happen. She didn't give her body to anyone so freely and was absolutely insulted when any male figured she would.

How dare he.

"I am very aware of your intentions and I shall tell you now I do not wish to lie with you." She said sternly.

Sesshomaru raised a well shaped brow. That was certainly obvious, seeing as she had a sword pointed at his chest.

It was then that he made up his mind.

"Come with me." He said

It was her turn to raise a brow.

"Excuse me?" She asked in disbelief.

".Me." He said slowly.

She scoffed. He was certainly and arrogant one. Maybe even the most arrogant male she had ever come across in her life. After so blatantly trying to seduce her and have her lie with him he was now telling her, no ordering, her to come with him? Honestly! Who did he think he was?

"I shall not." She said she said.

With that she stood and sheathed her sword, tucking it into her obi at her hip. Turning on her heel she almost stormed away from Sesshomaru and in the blink of an eye he was standing right before her, fully naked with water dripping from his body.

"You will not regret it." He said.

"On the contrary…sir…I believe I shall." She said before moving to step around him which he then intercepted.

"I wish for you to become the mate of this Sesshomaru."

"Your wish is not my command." With that said she scoffed at him and looked him up and down with disgust. She then leapt over him and was on her way.

Sesshomaru had made up his mind. She would become his.


	2. Chapter 2

The arrogance of that man.

It had been days since her encounter with the one called Sesshomaru but the memory of it still burned fresh in her mind.

Men!

They all thought that anything with two legs, a pulse and a vagina was rightfully theirs, especially one such as him; the ones with power and a title.

She didn't understand why the opposite sex was like that, but then again if you are one used to females stripping naked and spreading their legs for you at the drop of a hat, one would come to expect such behavior from all females.

"Humph!" Was all she had to say to that.

Why some women chose to behave in such a manner totally eluded her. Didn't they feel ashamed stooping to such lows? Giving themselves so freely to another? Didn't these women know that as soon as his seed was spilt, these women would be forever forgotten? No more than a notch in his bedpost? If so then she couldn't imagine why they would continue to do such things?

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

Well this Mayuri was not like that and she never would be. If any man wished to have access to what lied between her thighs he would have to prove to her that not only did he respect her but cared for and loved her…deeply.

For she would not give herself to someone who didn't love her or whom she didn't love herself.

With his hands tucked inside the sleeves of his kimono, Sesshomaru followed the scent that floated on the breeze, weaving its way around him and surrounding his sensitive senses.

He inhaled deeply, taking in as much of it as he possibly could before sighing as he exhaled.

Despite the fact that he was in a dense forest and little wind blew there, it was still enough to drive the scent towards him. And it was getting stronger.

He once again took a deep breath and filled his nostrils with the scent.

She smelled heavenly, this female called Mayuri.

Her scent was most alluring…and enticing. Like none he had ever smelt before.

Mayuri's scent was not that of some flower rubbed upon her person like most females'; it was her own scent.

And her scent reminded him of dawn.

Every time he inhaled her scent he could see the sky alight with its many hues of red, orange, purple and blue, he could hear the newly awakened birds singing their sweet morning song and he could almost feel the grass, moistened with dew, crunch beneath his bare feet.

That was what came to mind whenever Mayuri's scent entered his nose.

He smiled.

Sesshomaru could not deny his attraction to this female, nor could he deny how he wanted her; to make her his for the rest of his immortal life.

It was now his goal, his purpose to make her his and he would not stop until that happened.

He would pursue her with the same drive and passion that fuel him in his pursuit of Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru would be relentless and persistent. He would do anything in his power to obtain her; to convince her that she would not be in anyway making a mistake by becoming his mate, assure her that he, The Great Lord Sesshomaru, was indeed the best mate for her.

And once that was achieved, he would ravish and pleasure her in ways she has never and would never again know.

He would show her ever known benefit of being his mate, apart from the obvious title and riches that would follow of course.

Yes, she would become his. He was sure of it.

Sesshomaru always got his girl.

Mayuri hauled the dead boar over her shoulder. It had been decidedly easy to kill. Given its size she would have thought it to give up more of a fight but oh well; her family would eat well for the next few days.

With the boar placed securely on her person, Mayuri sped off towards home.

It wasn't so far away only about half of a mile, and with her yokai speed she would be there in minutes.

Her home lied in a yokai village, arguably one of the largest in the country. There her family was treated like nobles, seeing as they were the wealthiest family in the village.

Wealthier even than that idiot they had as a village headman, who foolishly gambled away his money or spent it on harlots.

Many a time villagers practically begged her father to take up the position but he always politely declined. He had no interest in such things.

Shifting the weight of the boar on her shoulder, Mayuri continued on.

Mayuri stopped suddenly in her tracks. She sighed.

"Just the person I was looking for." She heard him say from her left.

She turned on her heel, looking him straight in the eye, making sure her dislike of his presence was evident.

"What do you want pervert?" She asked.

Sesshomaru scoffed.

"I assure you I am no pervert." He said.

"Really?" She said as she raised a brow "A man who tries to seduce a strange woman he has just met is not a pervert?"

"I realize now I was wrong to seduce you…Mayuri." He said, using her name on purpose.

It did not go unrealized by her.

"A fake semblance of an apology will not work…Sesshomaru." She stated.

"It is neither fake nor an apology." He said flatly.

Mayuri clenched her jaw. How nice of him to make her look like a fool for assuming so much, but she couldn't disagree with him. She was obviously overestimating his kindness.

"You have no answered my question." Mayuri said.

Sesshomaru smirked.

Mayuri narrowed her eyes.

"Is it not obvious? As I have stated I wish for you to become my mate and thus I am here to claim you." He said matter-of-factly.

"I am no one's to claim." Mayuri said with pride as she raised her head, looking down her nose at him.

Oh how the fates loved to play their games. Just moments before he met Mayuri was he not thinking that he needed a female who thought highly of herself? Mayuri certainly did. No one had ever looked down their nose at him. In fact, most people were intimidated by him and she obviously was not. Did she not know that she was making him want her even more?

"No other's but mine." He said.

"I am not yours." Mayuri stated firmly.

"You will be. In time." Sesshomaru said with confidence.

"Humph! You are wasting your time." Mayuri said shifting the boar onto her other shoulder.

"Am I?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I am leaving. _Do not _follow me." She said.

"You know I will." Sesshomaru said with a smirk.

Mayuri remained silent as she stared at the yokai before her. She knew he would, simply because he said so. It made no sense arguing with him that much was for certain.

And though she hated to admit, Sesshomaru actually was quite attractive. With his long silver hair that ended at the back of his knees and his golden brown eyes and his full lips. Those four magenta stripes that ran along his cheeks bones, two on each side and the half moon in deep blue that sat on his forehead. He was quite tall as well, much taller than her by at least 6 inches.

If only his personality were as attractive. He only proved that looks weren't everything.

"Fine then. Do as you wish. But know that I will ignore you." She said and once again left him alone.


	3. Chapter 3

A small smile came across Lord Sesshomaru's face as he followed Mayuri, at about a foot's distance, to her home.

The oh so sexy way her hips and backside moved when she walked; left and right and left and right and left and right and left again, swaying back and forth oh so lusciously.

She had no idea how much he wanted to grab her and throw her over his knee, hike up her kimono so that her naked backside was exposed to him and take his bag hand and smack her so hard the sound echoed for miles. How he would watch in not even faintly hidden amusement as her backside jiggled. How he would love to make it glow red.

Smiling even broader now thanks to his very naughty thoughts, Sesshomaru took himself out of his head and his eyes off of Mayrui's backside, before the evidence of his train of thought became apparent.

Sesshomaru did not in any way think Mayuri knew of the power her petit frame (petit to him Sesshomaru was over 6'2" talk) wielded.

Without all of the layers she would have typically worn beneath her kimono, but she was obviously not the typical woman, her figure was more apparent.

Mayuri had a very shapely and curvaceous body. , One which many would call an hour glass shape.

Though she did not have the biggest breasts Sesshomaru had ever seen he was sure that if he were given the chance to see for himself, they would be a little more than a handful; well to his hands at least.

Most of her curves though, were in her lower half.

Her hips, which he was now once again paying attention to, were perfectly round and though they were not in the least bit small, they were not overly large either, nor were her thighs for that matter.

And her backside…so round…so perky…so desperately spank-able! His earlier naught thoughts were now returning to him.

Sesshomaru raised a brow as, for a moment, he wondered what position he would take her in first. On all fours? On her back? On _his _back?

Soon he realized it didn't matter. So long as he _had _her and Sesshomaru never wanted a female more. And it was for the simple that she told a simple two letter, one syllable word: no.

He was now made to chase her.

Not that he had never chased women before, but it was in the literal sense and they were only being false.

She had meant her no and with a strong conviction that did not wound him, but stroke his very masculine nature, that brought forth the irresistible urge to have what he was told he could not.

And that was Mayuri.

As she walked through the gradually thinning forest of trees so tall they almost reached the heavens and so wide it would take three men to hug it and form a complete circle around just one of them, she could feel his eyes on her. Well not her, but her person.

At least some men tried to hide the fact that they were undressing you with their eyes. Really, the arrogance of him!

She knew the fact that she was now drenched in boar's blood did nothing to dissuade him from examining her form.

If only she hadn't declared she would ignore him for as long as he was there, she would throw the very same boar right at him, though she knew he would probably dodge it or catch it. That didn't matter at all; the action alone would be enough to satisfy her.

Mayuri heard him growl behind her and the scent that wafted towards her caught her off guard and made it all too clear to her what was going on behind there.

The arrogant bastard was aroused!

And he made absolutely no attempts to hide his current state.

Did he really think the scent of his arousal would be enough to lure her to his bed? To change her mind about becoming his mate? Hell she didn't even think his thoughts stretched so far, she knew that they at least stopped at luring her to his bed.

She turned on her heel, the sudden sharpness of the movement and the speed of it, swung the boar left to right on her shoulder a little and once again she was met with his face.

He was so beautiful!

This made it a little harder, only a little, to say no to him. His perfect features were enough to make any woman swoon, especially those eyes; those perfect amber eyes!

His scent, oh his scent! The one he was giving off right now that told her of his state of mind, was far from repulsive. It was enticing and it did tempt her. How it tempted her!

But she had to stand her ground. Hold onto her standards. She refused to lower them for a man, not even one as beautiful as he was or one whose scent was as enticing as his was when he was aroused.

She could at least admit to herself, but not aloud, that she was attracted to him. But it was purely physical. There was no doubt about that.

"Stop it." She demanded through clenched teeth, eyes narrowed.

Sesshomaru chuckled.

"Stop what?" He said feigning innocence.

Her eyes narrowed further, her long, thick, dark lashes covered what little of her eyes could still be seen, leaving only blackness.

"Stop thinking whatever you are thinking." Mayuri said.

Sesshomaru took a few steps towards her, closing the space between them somewhat. His amber eyes were focused only on her green ones.

"You want me to stop thinking about lying you across my lap and spanking your bountiful bottom?" He asked.

Mayuri reacted before she was even sure she had. The only thing that alerted her to that fact was the smack as her open palm met his cheek.

She knew she had not slapped him out of offence, many a man had told her similar things, and other far worse. It was the simple fact that his statement had embarrassed her, because as the words slipped from his deliciously divine lips she could see the image clearly in her mind.

Sesshomaru could only stare at Mayuri, her heart shaped face contorted in a strange mixture of horror and embarrassment, a few stray jet black hairs falling over her left eye from when she had spun around on her heel, no longer bound in her high ponytail.

He was not about to hit her. Sesshomaru had never lain his hand on a woman and he was not about to start.

Beyond angry was what he was, furious was described is current state more accurately. Though like always he kept his face stoic and emotionless, he knew she could tell how he was feeling.

Mayuri shook her head, loosening a few more jet black hairs and straightened her back.

"As far as I'm concerned you deserved it. You had no right speaking to me in such a manner." She said.

She did not walk away; he could tell she was waiting for him to respond, to react.

He did neither.

"Hn." Was the only sound he made. He turned around.

This time it was his turn to walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, sat atop a boulder.

One leg bent so that his elbow rested on his knee the other hanging over the large rock that rested near the edge of a cliff that hung over a river.

The wind here was strong and blew his silver hair about him in a wildly beautiful manner that were any humans around they would stare at him in awe and stunned fascination, be so utterly surprised that one as beautiful as him dwelled within their world.

The hand connected to the elbow that rested upon his knee was rubbing his cheek, the cheek that Mayuri had assaulted little more than a week ago and though so much time had passed since then he could still feel the sting as her palm met his flesh and he could still hear the resounding echo of the smacking sound that the action had produced.

After he had walked away, still fuming, he had considered, briefly, forgetting about the woman and seeking out another and had sought out a brothel in which to get rid of his…frustrations. But Mayuri had lingered in his mind and the act of copulating with the whore that straddled him was not as fulfilling as it had once been.

It truly frustrated him that a woman who had slapped him, a woman he had only known for a mere few days and knew nothing about, had planted herself so securely into his mind to the point that he could not forget her, to the point that she was constantly on his mind, to the point that he could no longer empty his loins into a female without wishing that said female was her.

The image of her swaying hips and ample behind plus the image that his mind had generated from watching said parts of her body seemed to be burnt into his memory, etched onto is eyelids, for that was what he could not forget, that was what was constantly on his mind.

And thinking about said images did not help him one bit! For those very images had sent him to the brothel in the first place, were making him consider at this very moment going back, knowing that he would not be completely satisfied, knowing that he would wish it was Mayrui's warmth that he had lost himself in.

And that itself provoked another image.

_Mayuri was lying on his bed._

_She was completely naked, lying on her back and propped up on her elbows. Her long jet black hair flowed over her shoulders in waves and hid her breasts from his hungry eyes._

_Her tongue slid seductively between her lips and spread her warm saliva along the length of her full bottom lip. Sesshomaru's eyes followed the wet appendage and he felt his own appendage stir to life._

_He was standing at the foot of the bed, he himself completely naked, appreciating the beauty of the woman that lied before him before he ravished her and he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep himself away from her for much longer._

_Mayuri's legs, which had been crossed this whole time, slowly began to part and the scent of her arousal hit him full force and he was over the edge._

_In the blink of an eye he was hovering above her, a knee planted firmly between her thighs, keeping her legs apart for him and both his hands were in hers, fingers interwoven, the loss of her elbows to hold her up sent her flat on her back. He smirked down at her, triumph clearly written across his face as he nudged her thighs further apart._

_Their faces were so close that when her tongue once again left her mouth it brushed against his lips._

_A growl rumbled low in his throat._

_Sesshomaru brought his other leg over to nestle between Mayuri's thighs and without letting a moment pass she wrapped them around his waist and pulled him closer to her body._

_It was all the encouragement he needed._

_Sesshomaru slid himself deep with her and…_

"My Lord!" Jaken shouted.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes – when had he closed them? – and shot a look at Jaken that spoke of his annoyance at being drawn from his fantasy.

Jaken jumped and instantly starting groveling, saying something of being worried about seeing his master in such a state and some other gibberish that Sesshomaru paid no attention to for now he had come to realize that he was sporting a very obvious erection.

Growling, not only at his now building sexual frustration but also disappointed that he had allowed himself to slip so far into his mind that the outside world became lost to him and Jaken had to shout in order for him to be awakened, Sesshomaru rose from his position atop the boulder which made Jaken jump again.

Heading back in the direction of the brothel Sesshomaru made up in his mind that he would seek out the same whore he had rutted with and _this _time he would not wish she were Mayuri but pretend that she was Mayuri. That should be enough to keep him satisfied.

Mayuri sat on the bank of the river, legs curled up to her body with her arms wrapped tightly around them and her chin resting in the space between her tightly -pressed –against- each-other knees. Her jet black hair was no longer bound in a high ponytail and flowed about her form freely. Her green eyes stared unfocused into the crystal clear water inches from her toes.

Sesshomaru had been gone for more than a week, but his scent still lingered in the forest she had been in with him, a forest so close to her home that whenever the wind blew strongly she would get the faintest hint of it through her bedroom window and then she would remember.

The image he had made her see so vividly, as if it were a recent memory or maybe a premonition, lingered in the recesses of her mind and every time she blinked or caught his scent or slept, she would see it but not only see it, be affected by it and in a way that no mere image had affected her in long time. In a way no man had affected her in a long time.

Every time the image came to her mind she would feel embarrassment grip her stomach and the heat of her own blood rush to her cheeks and make them glow red and more than anything else-Mayuri squeezed her thighs tighter together as the image once again resurfaced-it stirred something deep within herself, a desire she had not felt in ages, one that she had almost forgotten about until now; it had…has…aroused her.

Aroused her so that she was acutely aware of the blood flowing in her veins, of the air entering and leaving her lungs and the speed at which it did, of the fullness of her breasts and of the way her nipples hardened and almost seemed to strain against the fabric of her clothing, as if they were begging to be released from their bonds so they could be licked, sucked, touched, whenever that thought came to her mind.

As if they were begging to be licked, sucked and touched by _him._

Mayuri buried her face in her hands and shook her head violently, as if to shake the thought from her head along with the image.

He had gotten to her and she knew it.

Sesshomaru had gotten into her head and under her skin and thus had made her body crave him with an intense need that she wished would go away but knew she didn't want to in the least bit. It had been so long since her body had felt this way and she didn't know how soon she would find this kind of feeling again if she let it go. She liked it too much.

She sighed and let the image come to her mind again; squeezing her thighs even closer together than before, knowing the action would send a surge of pure, blissful pleasure through her entire body and make her writhe.

Mayuri turned her head and rested her cheek against the skin of her warm thigh as she sighed and closed her eyes.

She played the image over and over in her head, squeezing her thighs together each time she felt a pulse between her thighs and then when that wasn't enough she let the image grow and expand into a fantasy where being spanked by The Great Lord Sesshomaru was far more than what occurred between them.

She was lost completely in the world she created in her mind, where her standards were forgotten and she coupled with Sesshomaru without love but only attraction. In her head she was safe to do so since there were no consequences to speak of.

Just as her pulse quickened and her breath hitched…

"Thinking of me?"

Her eyes shot open in surprise and sheer embarrassment. Looking up from where she was basically curled into a ball she was staring right into the amber eyes of the object of her fantasy.


	5. Chapter 5

Looking down on Mayuri from where he stood, towering at over six feet above the ground, Sesshomaru could not help but be aroused by the sight that now met his amber eyes.

She was sitting on the very edge of the river, on that lovely behind of hers, with her legs drawn to her chest, pressing against her breasts and spreading the full mounds of flesh across her thighs as well as pushing up her cleavage, creating a deep valley in which he now desired to place his now throbbing appendage between.

Sesshomaru growled deep in his throat as he felt it twitch to life repeatedly in his haori and it did not go unnoticed by him that at the same moment the sound rumbled in his throat, Mayuri's back became stiff.

Her cheeks were flaming red with not only embarrassment, but with the hot desire that now coursed through her veins and all over her body; a hot desire that even now was still pooling between her legs and gave off a scent that was calling out to Sesshomaru's most basic of instincts.

And her mouth….

Her lips were now parted slightly, in a way that was inviting and enticing and Sesshomaru could hear her shallow breathing as her desire and need raged her body that seemed to be on the brink of shaking from the sheer intensity of that desire and of that need.

And that only made the whole scene even more enticing; only made the obvious bulge in his haori grow.

Mayuri as she was right now; on the ground panting, red faced and highly aroused, was an image that was now stored within his mind along with the previous two; Mayuri across his lap with her kimono hiked up over her bottom and Mayuri lying beneath him, her legs spread and him deep within her.

Sesshomaru growled again and got the same response from Mayrui's body. She seemed to have realized what her body had been doing without her knowledge; her cheeks had now become a deeper shade of red.

His little trick at the brothel had worked, pretending the whore had been Mayuri…he should have thought of that before. But Sesshomaru knew now that even if he returned to the brothel now the same trick would not work again because now, he knew, he could not settle for any female other than Mayuri.

Seeing her like this only made him realize that he was as deeply cemented in her mind as she was in his; only made him realize that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

But she was resisting him.

He could see the tension in her legs, that was no longer due to her squeezing them so tightly together, and in her arms, in her entire body; he knew she wanted to satisfy her need, knew she wanted _him_ to satisfy her need but she was holding back and he knew it was because, unlike the whore he had only minutes ago bedded, she had enough respect for herself not to jump into just anyone's bed and for that he in turn respected her for not only her choice, but her resolve.

Sesshomaru could see and also smell how much her body was begging her to yield and allow him to ravish her form to no end, to take her over the edge again and again and again and even further than that.

He knew that she knew that he could.

But still she resisted, even after he made his intentions for her clear.

She knew he intended to make her his mate, knew he would not throw her away like some insignificant whore, knew he had chosen her to be his lifelong partner in immortality…but still she resisted his advances.

Most females would have jumped on the chance to be the mate of a Daiyoukai Lord like himself. Sesshomaru chuckled to himself, had she not already proven she was not like most females? She didn't care who he was, in fact she may have known who he was from the very beginning.

Sesshomaru couldn't help the smirk that crept across his face.

Mayuri was indeed, unique and he would never be bored with her at his side…forever.

All she could do was stare at the man she had only moments ago been thinking about in the most erotic of ways. Her cheeks, hell she felt like it was her entire face, burned with embarrassment and desire and need; a need so intense her body almost felt like it were to take a mind of its own if she didn't hold onto it as tightly as he did at the moment, forcing herself not to rise from her spot on the ground because she knew if she did she would go straight to him and lose herself in him.

That was not what she wanted!

She needed to hold fast to her standards and not let a silly, yet powerful, thing like arousal or attraction make her forget them. She was stronger than that and she knew it. Mayuri had never once changed her ideals for some man and she was not about to.

If Sesshomaru wanted her to become his mate he would have to work for it and prove to Mayuri that he not only loved her but that he was worth her love, time and effort as well as worthy of the treasures that lied between her thighs.

Just because he said he will make her his mate, and she knew he was not lying about that, did not mean she was about to jump into his bed for he had not yet shown her any love or anything of the sort. All he did was talk about what he wanted to do to her once he had successfully had her in his bed, or rather, on his lap, _if _he got her into/onto either one.

But even so, what he had said had gotten to her. And now she was sitting at the edge of a river with her legs drawn to her body, her thighs squeezed tightly together and desperately trying to maintain her self control as she stared up at the male who had gotten her into this situation; who had tempted her enough to get her into this situation.

And Mayuri could not remember ever being tempted so much in her entire life.

The look on his face told her that he was as aroused as she was at the moment; his eye lids lying heavily over his amber eyes which were dark with his desire, a slight redness to his skin and his mouth, that mouth of his with those lusciously full lips that begged her tongue to run itself across them, was open slightly and his breathing was slow, steady, deep and controlled and that in itself told her that he was trying to maintain his own self control as much as she was.

Mayuri didn't even need to look at his face to know that he was aroused. She need only take her eyes further south to realize just how aroused Sesshomaru was.

She didn't dare take her eyes there, she could see it with her peripheral vision alone and she knew that the second she paid any attention to the bulging in his haori he would take it in a way she did not wish him to. She knew that if she dared look she would just lose control of herself and she did not wish for that to happen.

She would not give into her carnal desires.

The scent of his arousal alone – so strong and alluring and enticing that she had to breathe through her mouth to avoid it – was enough to test her will and strength.

Even when he wasn't aroused his scent, which she had grown to…tolerate, was enticing enough already. Even without the images it provoked every time it caressed her nose, which it was always accompanied by these days, she found it to be very…pleasant.

She always had.

Long before the images were planted into her mind and replaced the image she saw before. It was not until now that she could admit to herself that she really liked his scent.

It was autumn.

That was what she saw when she smelled him before.

His scent would conjure up the most beautiful image, but then again he was a beautiful man.

She would see the trees and the bushes and their dying leaves, so much more wondrous on the brink of death than they were in life in their brilliant shades of red, yellow, orange, red and maybe even auburn brown. She would see them scattered across the ground being pushed by the breeze in the direction it blew and fluttering down to join their brothers and sisters only to be blown off course by the same breeze that she would feel on her face.

And she would picture herself closing her eyes and breathing deeply as the cool breeze softly and gently blew against her skin and lifted her jet black hair off her back and shoulders, weaving its way between the strands and pushing it away from her heart shaped face.

It would be cool, not cold. It would have a hint of warmth within it that would keep it from being too harsh or abrasive on her soft, smooth skin.

But here, outside of her mind and in the real world, the breeze seemed to stroke her in ways that further urged her body in the direction of Sesshomaru and she knew it was a direction she wanted to go in but she knew she could not allow herself to. She needed to maintain control! She needed to tear her eyes away from the man that stood before her and seemed to dwell inside her.

She needed to get away from his scent!

She needed to get rid of the images that played across her mind!

She needed to get her body back to a place where she didn't need to hold onto it so desperately!

She needed to get it back to place where she didn't feel like if her will slipped for even a second she would end up in Sesshomaru's bed!

Mayuri took deep breath and tried to calm her frantic mind. Not taking her eyes off of him, she saw Sesshomaru's eyebrow rise in mild intrigue.

She knew what she needed and it was right there.

Taking several moments to check herself, Mayuri rose.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a scent here that underlined his.

She'd been smelling it all along.

He smelled of sex.

The scent of it clung to him like a desperate woman to a man who held no affection for her what so ever.

It was another reason why she had to do what she was about to.

She wanted to yell at him and chastise him about bedding another female while he was supposed to be courting her. Argue that even though they were in no way a couple a certain level of respect had to be there and his actions had shown that he held no respect for; not even a little.

How could she even consider mating a man who didn't respect her at all? It would go against her standards and Mayuri was not about to lower her standards for _any_ male and especially one who didn't respect her.

But then she caught herself, and stopped before she could even say something she should have never thought.

Why in the name of all things sane was she even thinking about that? Why was she even bothered by the fact he had bedded another female?

Here was a man, who had made it blatantly obvious - due to the fact that he felt no apparent need to hide it – that his main, if not sole, intention was to bed her. It didn't matter that being mated for eternity was part of the package. Bedding her and impregnating her would probably be all he would do if they actually got mated and there would be no love and most certainly be no respect. She would become little more to him than her womb and what lied between her legs.

And Mayuri could not live the rest of her immortal life being treated in such a manner.

She _would not_ put herself in a situation where that outcome would be possible.

And first she needed to force Sesshomaru out of her mind and out from under her skin.

She knew that what she was about to do wouldn't achieve that for the long term but at least she would temporary relief; long enough so she could actually think and function normally.

It was what she needed right now if she was going to walk away from this situation without doing something she would most certainly later regret.

He was too tempting and alluring and….seductive. She was too drawn to him right now and she had the feeling if she stayed here any longer her will would not hold out much longer.

Mayuri took a step forward and by her second she was ankle deep in the ice cold water. The sudden shock of such a low temperature made her his and shudder, but right now it was the only thing she could think to do…and she needed it. After all it was the perfect remedy for her right now wasn't it?

She continued on into the water and she felt her muscles tighten and shiver with the intensity of the cold. It was almost painful, but better pain at the moment than running to Sesshomaru and ending up beneath him.

Once the water was up to her chest Mayuri took a deep breath and without a moment's hesitation and without a thought as to how unbelievably cold it would be once she did this, Mayuri submerged herself completely.

Sesshomaru watched as Mayuri's head quickly disappeared beneath the surface of the water, that he knew for certain had to be terribly cold.

He knew for what reason she chose to do such a thing, it was quite obvious; the sexual tension that charged the air between them, the strong scents of highly aroused beings swimming in the air and basically intoxicating them both to a point that they were, to some extent, rendered incapable of doing anything.

He took a few moments to clear his head, breath and recover use of his muscles.

When he moved his entire body felt heavy and his armor seemed almost restricting. He was suddenly aware of the near painful hardness of his appendage and of the tightness of his skin stretched across it. He could feel the blood pulsing in the veins that fed it and he knew that he would not get any relief from this, unless he did it himself.

Sesshomaru's raised a dark eyebrow as he looked down at the bulge in his hakama. Flexing, his fingers he took hold of the bulge and stroked his appendage from base to tip and back. It felt good, but not good enough. Only Mayuri could satisfy him.

He groaned as the image of her writhing beneath him and moaning her pleasure, once again came to the forefront of his mind.

Splash!

He looked up.

Standing with the water mid thigh was Mayuri.

Her back was arched as she used both hands to push her hair out of her face, her mouth open as she gasped for air, her eyes closed as the water slid down her face. Her haori was thoroughly soaked through and clung to her breasts – the hardness of her nipples blatantly obvious- and to the dip of her waist, to the curve of her hips.

This was the first time Sesshomaru had gotten a real picture of her true figure and he could not in any way complain. She had a fantastic body; she wasn't at all skinny but she wasn't fat either; she was somewhere in the middle but leaning more towards the fatty side. She had the kind of body a real woman would have.

She opened her eyes and looked to him, dead in the face. Her hands were still in her hair, her back still arched, her lips still parted.

For several long moments all they did was stare at each other, a habit they seemed to be developing as of late.

She tore her eyes away from him and returned to the edge of the river. It wasn't long before her entire body was shuddering almost violently.

Before he could have a second thought, Sesshomaru was taking off his armor, something he rarely did, and his haori was sliding of his shoulders. Walking over to Mayuri, he offered her his clothes.

Mayuri could feel her face working into an expression of absolute surprise.

He was handing her his haori.

His haori was off.

His upper body was completely exposed.

Slowly her eyes studied his outstretched arm; his pale skin was pulled taut against hard muscles that wove their way up and around the length of his long arm; the muscles of his arm were perfectly toned and chiseled. His arm looked strong, solid, and smooth.

There were two magenta stripes that ran across his wrist.

From his arm her eyes travelled to his chest and the skin there was just as smooth and pulled just as taut on muscles that were just as hard.

Her eyes travelled lower to his stomach, she counted his abs – six in total – and felt tempted to stroke them. This wasn't a sexual temptation but merely curiosity; she wanted to know what they felt like, she wondered if they, if he, would tremble at her touch.

The hakama rode low on his hips, very low, and were just a centimetre, or maybe even just a milimetre, of skin close to exposing the hard length that lied beneath it; a hardened length that was causing a bulge in the fabric.

When her eyes then came to rest on his face she was surprised to see that there was no smirk or look of amusement at how she so boldly examined his half naked form; she'd though him to at least see it as a sign in his favour but the look on his face was simply passive.

Mayuri took the haori from him and ignored the sensation that shot through her body when her finger brushed against the smooth skin of his own. When the fabric was out of his hand Sesshomaru turned his back to her.

Knowing he wouldn't see, she smiled.

Sesshomaru had felt the same sensation and it shot through him just as quickly and painlessly as it had through Mayuri, though he wasn't aware that the slight brush of his flesh against hers had actually affected her

He had to turn away from her when she took the haori from his hand; she would have made him anyways but that wasn't why.

He couldn't see her naked form, not in this state. Sesshomaru needed to hold onto his self control and right now he was, for the first time, not sure if he could hold onto it as well as he was usually able.

Mayuri tempted him more than any other female had and he couldn't even count how many times that thought had crossed his mind or how many times he told himself she was not just any other female.

She was more; much, much more.

Sesshomaru looked up at the sky.

Somehow it felt like he and Mayuri were standing here in this same spot for hours when only, as he could now tell, a few minutes had flown by.

A/N: So sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I just started college last week and its already taking up all my time. I will try to get the chapters out as soon as possible. Thank you all for your support thus far and I hope you remain as devoted to this story as you are now because I absolutely love to write and it pleases me to know that my work is pleasing others. J


	7. Chapter 7

Today she wore emerald green.

It matched perfectly with her eyes.

He watched the teeth of the comb run smoothly through her long, jet black tresses and as he watched, he imagined his fingers running through her hair and he could almost feel the silken texture of it.

From here he could smell the lavender she had used in her bath water. The scent of it clung to her hair, to her skin, to her body. But it did not overpower her own scent; the scent that reminded him of the sunrise.

She continued to comb her waist length hair as she ignored his presence, staring into the mirror with a gaze so intense he knew she could not have been simply watching herself comb her hair.

He knew she knew he was there. He knew that she had chosen to ignore him. That did not however, make him leave. Mayuri seemed quite determined to make his existence as insignificant as the dirt on the ground.

He had had many opportunities to approach her, be alone with her and the like but Sesshomaru felt it better not to. For the most part he had been the one doing the approaching, the initiating; it was about time Mayuri did some of the work.

He felt confident that she would, in time, grow curious and that curiosity more, often than not, got the best of people. He was very certain he could rely on her curiosity for her had seen, first hand, how it had taken over her.

Did she not examine his near naked form when he offered her his haori?

The way she had looked at him as her eyes travelled up his arms, down to his chest and further then to his flat, muscular stomach, he had seen a curiosity in those green depths that had spoken to him and for the most fleeting of seconds, he was tempted to reach his hand out to her.

He wasn't just a little tempted either.

He had wanted to reach out to her and cup her cheek, rest the palm of his hand on the smooth flesh of her face and stroke it slowly, gently, with his thumb.

Had wanted to pull her into him, hold her fast against his body with his arm wrapped around her small waist and run his fingers through the silken hair he was now watching her comb and stare right into those green eyes that he was beginning to become very fond of.

It was surprising to find that he, Sesshomaru, had desired her so much in that one moment and it had absolutely nothing to do with sexual attraction, sexual desire or frustration. The feeling that had sailed through him at that moment had nothing to do with the fact that both he and Mayuri were highly aroused at the time.

The feeling was warm and soothing and made him feel so relaxed and at ease and just calm and even happy. It filled him right down to his core and he had felt himself smiling on the inside. He was sure if the emotion had seeped through his skin and made it to his face that he would have had the single biggest smile he had ever had in his entire life; knew it would just fill his face and just as easily look completely out of place upon his visage and Sesshomaru did not smile. Plain. Simple.

It had occurred to him, and he could not tell when how long this had been happening, that he, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands and son of the great Inu No Taisho, was developing a crush on Mayuri.

He was actually beginning to like her.

And he had no idea why; she was difficult, stubborn, refused to accept his proposal or acknowledge the fact that he was who he was (he was after all the most powerful Lord, youkai or ningen, in all of the country), made it a point to ignore him and yet none of that annoyed him; it only intrigued him to no end.

Why did she resist him? Why was she so intent on not yielding to what her body so obviously wanted?

When she came to him he would have to ask.

It was only a matter of time before she did.

It had been several days now and he still had not left.

She woke up to find him sitting on the lowest branch of a tree that stood quite a number of feet away from her bedroom door, his back to the massive plant's trunk with his legs lying parallel to the limb, and wondered a little to herself why in Kami's name he was there but then she quickly brushed it off and went about her business figuring he would eventually leave.

But he hadn't.

It was more like she had awoken and found his scent floating in the air that filled her bedroom, and when she had opened her door to follow it, she needed only to look straight ahead to see him.

Somehow she felt as if he had chosen that particular branch on that particular tree in that particular spot on purpose; she did have a clear view of it from her bedroom door, which meant that she would see him first thing every day but not only that, the arrogant bastard had placed himself right in the path of the wind.

No matter where she went, no matter when his scent would follow her.

It filled the air around her and entered her lungs whenever she took a breath. The constant stimulus of his aroma made it near difficult to get the image of autumn leaves out of her head. The image this time though, was a little bit different; she still saw the auburn, yellow and red leaves, some still bound to the tree as others fluttered to the ground, still saw herself standing in the grass with her hair unbound and blowing wildly, beautifully in the cool/warm breeze.

Only one thing was different; there was an addition.

Sesshomaru.

She saw him standing there, looking down at her. She could see herself in his amber eyes. They were standing close enough to each other that she could reach out and place her palm on the fabric that separated the skin of his chest from that on her palm. The rhythm of his heart beat would pulse beneath his fingers. His chest would rise and fall with each breath beneath her hand.

The smooth silk of the haori would not be enough to satisfy her need to feel him, to touch him.

Mayuri would slide her hand inside his clothing and delicately, slowly, move her fingers across the skin that was pulled taut over hard muscle. She would feel his chest vibrate as he vocalized the sensations that ran through him. She would fulfill her previous curiosity and run the tips of her fingers over firmness of his abs and they, he, would quiver.

It would never happen.

So long as he was there he would continue to feed her fantasies.

She needed him gone.

Mayuri put down her comb, squared her shoulders and rose. Her head high, with a strong sense of purpose and a determination that did not in any way allow her to fail on her current mission, she walked over to the tree and stood right beneath the arrogant bastard who insisted on bedding her.

"What, may I ask, are you doing here?" She asked in her most annoyed of tones.

Sesshomaru's chest tightened.

A sense of victory washed over him; only a matter of time.

"Why do you resist me?" Sesshomaru asked, ignoring her question.

"Because," she replied "now answer my question."

"Because what?" Sesshomaru asked, again ignoring her question.

Mayuri sighed; he obviously had no interest in answering her.

"If you have no business here I would like for you to kindly leave." She said with authority.

In what seemed like less than a tenth of a second, Sesshomaru was standing right in front of her.

Mayuri gasped at the sudden closeness of his proximity and had to take a few steps back.

"Do you wish me gone?" He asked.

Mayuri nodded firmly.

"Then say you want me gone." Sesshomaru requested.

"I want you gone." She said quickly.

"You lie." Sesshomaru said plainly.

Mayuri scoffed at his arrogance. Really? Did he think himself that much of an important person that it was impossible for a female to not want to be in his company? Shameful that he was so right. She did not want him gone, she needed him gone.

"I do not lie, Sesshomaru. I need you gone."

"But you do not want me gone." He stated.

Sesshomaru's legs were so long that when he took just one step towards Mayuri, the distance between them was virtually closed.

"Why do you resist me?" Sesshomaru asked again.

She could almost hear her own pulse; she could surely feel the frantic beating of her heart. At present, she was starting to think approaching him was a big mistake and even so she couldn't escape the feeling that now seemed to be dominating her.

They were so close.

So very, very close.

His lips just seemed to call out to her.

No.

Call was not enough.

They seemed to be screaming at her! Shouting and yelling commands that the longer she heard them the more she was being swayed to act on impulse. The more she wanted to. The more she felt like she was going to.

They were so close now he needed only to lean forward just a little for his lips to touch hers. The warmth of her breath caressed his chin as she looked up at him; he was so tall compared to her there was no way she could see him without doing this, not when they were so close. He could see the freckles of her face better now; they were a deep, creamy brown and he could count each individual one if he so wished.

Maybe some other time.

Right now the question he had presented to her wasn't even at the forefront his mind and right now he could care less what her answer was. The only thought that ran through his head was how perfectly pink, smooth, full, kissable her lips were looking at the moment, how much she had tempted him the very short time he had known her, how much he…

A sigh slid between his parted lips as her hand came to rest on his cheek and as her thumb ran along his lower lip.

She was on her toes and just that mere two inch increase in her height pushed them closer still.

Then she was motionless.

Sesshomaru could not afford for her to have time to think. He wound his hand around her waist and just as he leaned in…Mayuri pulled away.

The hand that had rested on his cheek was now pushing away the arm that held her to him.

"How can I give myself to a man who doesn't even love me? Furthermore, respect me?" She asked as she looked into his amber eyes.

Sesshomaru resisted against her attempt to remove his arm from her person, tightening his grip on her waist and pulling her closer to his body.

"I respect you. Immensely." He said

Mayuri shook her head.

"But you do not love me." She whispered.

He allowed her then to move his arm and watched as she almost sadly walked away.

Sesshomaru realized in that one moment, that she was falling in love him much in the same way he was falling in love with her.

He scoffed.

How could he have thought that what he was feeling for her was as insignificant as a crush?


	8. Chapter 8

Once again, he'd disappeared.

When she slapped him, he ran.

When she almost kissed him, he ran.

Was he going to run away when he bedded her?

Mayuri paused.

That is, hypothetically speaking.

Why was he gone? Where did he go? Wasn't that what he wanted? For her to give in? For her to show the slightest bit of interest? For her to do something that even remotely made him feel like he had a chance at actually procuring her as his mate?

Even though he had made his intentions very clear, Mayuri could not figure out what he was doing.

Sesshomaru was a complete mystery to her; all she knew about him was that he wanted her to become his mate, that he was an arrogant bastard and that he was very committed to the task of making her his mate. Other than that, she knew nothing and wondered why she was so attracted to him if that was the case.

You couldn't possibly have strong feelings for someone you didn't even know which brought forth the question, did she really like him or was this purely a physical attraction? That, she could not answer for herself as of yet.

She sighed as she continued to stare out her bedroom window, wondering when he would come back into her line of sight, wondering when she would sense him nearby.

Mayuri knew she missed him. She was no longer going to hide how she felt about him from herself. At this point she felt it utterly foolish at this point, considering what almost happened between them.

The almost kiss was as much of a shock to her as if Sesshomaru had actually shown an emotion. Mayuri did not in any way think that she would have been so bold as to approach him, far less try to kiss him.

She shuddered with embarrassment when she thought of how she held his face in her small hand and traced his lower lip with her thumb. Somehow she could still feel the smoothness of his skin and the softness of his lip on her fingers and on her thumb. She could still feel the cold steel of his armor against her chest and the warmth of his thighs on her own from when he had held her to him.

The scent of him had been damn near overpowering form that close and she wanted nothing more than to just melt in his arms and give herself to him completely but she knew she couldn't, she didn't want it to be that way if it would so happen.

If Mayuri were to be mated to someone, even Sesshomaru, she would want the actual mating to be about emotion and the expression of it; passion, caring, romance, love. She wanted that not only in her sex life but in all aspects of her life with her mate, even if it was Sesshomaru.

She sighed, still looking out her window.

Mayuri knew Sesshomaru was attracted to her; he had made that quite clear. Another question that had presented itself was if, between all their sexual tension and mutual attraction, there was room for love, real love. She didn't so much worry about if she could love him, but if he could love her.

Sesshomaru did not seem to her the type of man to let such a feeling fester inside him. He was so passive and stoic and hard; he seemed the type of man that believed love to be a waste of time, energy and feeling, like the type of man who did not believe in such an emotion, like one who felt others who did were little more than fools. If that was the case, then he would have to think of her as foolish.

Mayuri was a hopeless romantic.

She was one of those females that believed in the fairy tales; of a prince charming whom she would one day fall head over heels in love with, who would sweep her off her feet and take her away to live the rest of her life with him happily ever after. She believed that she could meet someone who would make her far beyond happy and further still. She felt deep within her heart that soul mates were real and it only took meeting the right person at the right time for her to find her one and her only; _the_ one.

She sighed once again as she held her hand over her heart.

She knew that one day she would meet her prince charming, the question was…had she already?

"Sesshomaru-sama!" The young girl with the raven hair cried as she ran up to her master holding a bouquet of flowers she had picked especially for him. She gently placed them in his lap, as if they were the most precious thing in the world, before smiling her big, cute smile up at him and running off to pick some more.

Today he had brought her another gift, this one a beautiful turtle shell comb that she now wore in her hair with pride.

He looked down at the flowers that rested against his thigh and suddenly the thought occurred to him; he should give these to Mayuri.

Sesshomaru was not one for flowers and gifts. He really did not see the point of investing energy, time and money into a woman he would only be spending a few fleeting moments with before discarding her.

Mayuri however was not someone he wished to spend only a few fleeting moments with. She was not someone he wished to discard. She was worth the energy, the time and more money than he or any other lord in the country had.

He would take these and any other flowers Rin picked to Mayuri.

If Mayuri was to become his mate she would, of course, have to accept Rin. Besides Jaken, the girl was the most loyal person to him and as such the girl would forever be a part of his life and if Mayuri could not handle that then there would be no reconsidering of his choice of her; the "courtship", if it could be called that, would end right there and Sesshomaru would move onto to find someone else to fulfill what she could not.

Finding someone to replace her would be hard.

He knew that just because of his beauty, his name, his title, his lineage, any other female would not think twice about his proposal. He knew that even if she was like most youkai and hated humans, she would tolerate Rin just so she could be at his side and have a title and wealth.

He knew that no other female would be capable of loving Rin the way he knew Mayuri would.

Sesshomaru could see that Mayuri had a lot of love to give and that she would give it freely to anyone who so desired or needed it. He could tell she was just that type of person; someone who when they loved, it was an intense, passionate and fierce type of love, that she would strive to bring joy to the lives of those she loved and she would do anything to achieve that. He could see that with her love came a deep desire to protect those who had obtained it and because she loved so strongly it would take _a lot_ to earn her love.

He knew that if she came to accept Rin that was the kind of love his ward would receive.

He knew that he would love Mayuri in exactly the same way.

Right now he could feel the bony fingers of longing clutching his heart.

He missed her.

He missed her scent, her green eyes, her full lips, her round backside. He even missed her hair and the way it moved in the breeze and the freckles that dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose; they were what made her face so beautiful, interesting and charming. Without them Mayuri would look like just another overly beautiful female, her freckles added a certain cuteness to her face that was simply irresistible and intriguing and seeing them up close had been quite the experience.

He sighed.

If only their lips had met.

He would have had the chance to run his fingers through her hair and truly feel the luxurious softness and of it, he would have had the chance to caress the skin of her cheek, of her arm and experience the smoothness of it, he would have been able to finally sample her; feel the suppleness of her lips, taste the sweetness of her tongue.

He could have had her!

Even if he didn't have her in the complete sense of the phrase at least a kiss...he was so close to getting what he wanted, to getting the female he wanted. So close and yet so far.

But now, he knew now what it was she wanted and he knew he was going to give her that for he had been falling in love with her long before she even told him it was a requirement.

He heard the girl's laughter and looked up from his lap. Standing before him she extending his arms and handed him an even bigger bouquet than the one she had presented him with before, her cute smile plastered across her face; it was a smile that he wished never to see disappear.


	9. Chapter 9

He still had not returned.

She knew that the last time he had gone, his absence had been for far longer but it still felt like she had been waiting forever; _this time_ she allowed herself to care, _this time_ she allowed herself to like him and _this time_ she allowed herself to miss him and in doing so made herself suffer with the anticipation of his scent coming on the wind, of him emerging from the trees, of him just simply being with her.

There was nothing she wanted more at the moment than for Sesshomaru to be there.

Mayuri sighed a dreamy sigh.

All she could think about was being held in his arms, staring up at him into those amber eyes that were always emotionless, running her fingers through his hair, caressing his cheek with her thumb, pressing her lips against his neck, weaving her fingers between his.

It was the hopeless romantic within her that dreamed of these things, a far cry from what her previous thoughts about him were; being laid over his knees and spanked. Those were thoughts born out of lust, a lust that somehow had started to develop into something much deeper and more meaningful to her.

Somehow that lust was turning into love.

It was rather odd to her the way their "relationship" developed and was developing.

One simply does not fall in love with a pervert; someone whose first declaration concerning you was of a sexual nature. It simply was not done. One got offended, slapped the one who offended them and walked away angry. But she had done that had she not? So why then was she falling in love with him? Was it because they had spent so much time together in the past weeks?

It would make sense, she guessed.

But still, she had found him to be so arrogant at first, but now she was in some way starting to see it not so much as arrogance but more so him having a high level of confidence and simply stating the truth; it was not like he had a false sense of superiority or something of the sort. He truly was what he proclaimed himself to be; the most powerful youkai in all of Japan and he had the right to declare himself as such.

It was the simple, honest truth of it all.

Sesshomaru was the best of the best and for the first time she felt a sense of pride knowing that she was the apple of his eye, the woman he had chosen to be his for the rest of his immortal life, the woman he chosen to bare and raise his children, the woman he wanted to be with in every sense of the word. For the first time she felt special because of that plain fact; he wanted none other than her.

And he had proven it.

Had he not refused to take no for an answer? Had he not, in essence, stalked her; watching her through her bedroom window day in and day out without moving even an inch? Had he not shown her how determined he was to obtain her?

If there had been any other female that he had considered, that he _was_ considering for the position of his mate, he would have left Mayuri to herself a long time ago and she would not be here, sitting by her bedroom window waiting for him to return.

If it had been so, she would not be falling for him and she would not in any way form or fashion, miss him.

If it had been so, Mayuri would not be special.

Knowing this, without a doubt, she resigned herself to sitting by her window and waiting for her prince charming to return.

Sesshomaru glided gracefully across the heavens, but when did he not do anything without grace, elegance or poise?

His visit with Rin had been longer than usual; he had needed to stay in order to tell her about Mayuri.

He told her that upon his next visit, Mayuri would be with him since he felt it important for his intended and his ward to meet before he was mated.

Rin, of course, was nothing but excited and he could understand; now she would no longer be the only female and she would have someone with which to do whatever it was females did, doing their hair, make-up, fittings for kimonos, flower arranging and all other things, plus…she would also have a mother figure.

Maybe that was part of the reason why he now wished to settle down, to provide Rin with a mother when she returned to him. But were Kagome and Sango not her mother figures now? No, Sesshomaru felt them more like aunts. He knew Rin looked to him like a father and that any female he brought into his life she would view as a mother. It only made sense; her parents were dead and he was now her guardian.

If any female had been important to him before Mayuri it was Rin and he would do nothing less than treat her as if she were his own child. Her belief in him and her loyalty to him was unwavering and it was all he could do to thank her.

He would give her the family she deserved and the first time in doing so was mating Mayuri.

Her home was now within his sight and he began his slow descent towards the ground. As he drew closer to the earth he saw Mayuri leap from her bedroom window, walking slowly towards him.

He looked almost god like as he floated to the ground; his long silver hair flowed in a continuous wave above him with his bangs now pushed away from his face by the wind and the blue crescent moon more visible and contrasting with his pale skin. The sleeves of his haori fluttered about around his arms that were outstretched at a ninety degree angle, his pelt and his obi waving in the breeze.

His booted feet touched down on soil, right in front of Mayuri and for a few seconds all they did was stare at each other.

"Where were you?" She finally asked.

Sesshomaru smirked and reached into the sleeve of his kimono.

"Getting you these."

He pulled out the bouquet of flowers Rin had picked. He had asked the young girl if she had any ribbons and with a smile Rin took him back to where she was staying with his brother's mate and gave him a beautiful pink ribbon which he used to hold the flowers together.

"Oh." She said as she took them, a smile spreading quickly across her face.

She held them up to her nose and took a deep breath, taking in the wonderful scent of the flora she had been presented with and detecting the scent of a human.

"Who were you with?" She asked, raising and eyebrow and the smile fading from her face slightly.

Sesshomaru noticed the change in her expression and did not take it as a positive sign.

"My ward." He stated plainly.

"Your ward?" Mayuri asked, the flowers falling from her face, now being held in front of her chest.

Sesshomaru thought it best to speak of this while sitting and thus seated himself on the ground after which, he motioned for Mayuri to d the same. She did.

"Her name is Rin. She has been my ward for more than three years. Her age is unknown to me but she has not yet become a woman." Sesshomaru explained looking down at her as she looked up at him.

Mayuri nodded. He had a ward. A human ward. It seemed the strangest thing to her that one such as himself would even have such a ward. That one explanation made something apparent to her; he held no prejudice towards humans, evidenced by the fact that he had a human ward, a ward that was a child, a ward who had been in his custody for more than three years. The fact that he had kept her around for so long, meant that he loved that little girl.

That simple fact suddenly made her feel like Sesshomaru could, in fact, love her.

She had never felt so much hope build up in her in such a short space of time. The immensity of it made her chest tighten, her throat close and her eyes water. She held the flowers he had given her all the more tightly and all the more closer to her heart now. Cherishing them all more. He _did_ have the capacity to love her.

Sesshomaru saw it in the green eyes that looked intently into his own amber ones; the realization, the hope that she felt. He could see the love for him growing inside her heart, could feel his love for her growing inside his heart and knew instantly that she would accept Rin, simply because the girl was a part of his life, a part of him. He knew that she would love her and protect her as if she were her own child.

Her smile returned to her face and he was glad that it had; joy was the only expression he wanted to see on her beautiful face dotted with its adorable freckles.

Mayuri shifted her body closer to his, opening her arms and wrapping them around his back before pulling his chest closer to her and resting her cheek on his armor. It wasn't long before his arms came around her and his chin was resting on the top of her head.

They stayed that way for a long while, holding each other and breathing deeply as they inhaled each others' scents and allowing themselves to become completely immersed in them.

"I'll introduce you to my parents tomorrow." Mayuri said suddenly. She felt so relaxed in his arms that she was somewhat half asleep and the words slipped from her mouth as a light sigh.

Sesshomaru's hand travelled up her back and into her hair which was just as smooth and silky as he had imagined. With his hand on her cheek he tilted her head back slightly before placing a kiss upon her forehead.


	10. Chapter 10

He didn't leave this time; he stayed in the tree he had been in when he had stalked her, in the forest outside her bedroom window.

She was unable to sleep that night, anxious as she was; he was going to meet her parents today and if that wasn't cause for anxiety then she did not know what was. It was not as if she had not brought boy, men, home for her parents to meet, it was just that this time there was the intention for them to spend the rest of their immortal lives together and now that she was sure Sesshomaru could in fact love her, and something told her that he would, she knew that would be together forever. Introducing your parents to someone you were making that kind of commitment to was a very big deal.

She knew he didn't sleep that night either, she could feel his eyes on her all night. Whether or not his lack of sleep was cause by anxiety just like her she had no idea, but she doubted it was. This was Sesshomaru she was thinking about and Sesshomaru never got anxious. If anything, the moment he stepped into the room he would overwhelm it with his presence and her parents would be the anxious ones.

Mayuri wondered how her parents would react to hearing that she was being courted by the Daiyoukai Lord. She really couldn't see them being upset in anyway by their pairing since, after all he _was_ Lord Sesshomaru, Daiyoukai and not only the most powerful youkai in all Japan but the most powerful it had ever seen.

Sesshomaru's father, the Daiyoukai Inu no Taisho was a legend and here his son had surpassed him. Who would be unhappy with their daughter being courted by a man such as Sesshomaru?

The fact that Sesshomaru was Sesshomaru quelled her anxiety a little but it was still there.

She didn't want to just introduce him first thing that day, she wanted to spend some time with him first, get to know him a little bit more and _then_ introduce the man she was growing to love to her parents.

Mayuri was still in her bed at this time, almost mid-morning.

She couldn't attribute her wakefulness solely to her anxiety. She'd also been awake all night thinking about the hug she and Sesshomaru had shared.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world to her and she really could not see how she had once despised him so much. Never mind that all she could really feel was the cold steel of his armour and not the warmth of chest, that she couldn't hear the beat of his heart. It all the same felt more than amazing to hold him and to be held by him.

The tenderness he had shown her by kissing her on her forehead was not at all astonishing. It felt like something he would do. It felt normal, as if it were something he had done to her on numerous occasions but it still held that feeling of excitement that came with a first time experience.

After a few more minutes of lying in bed, she decided it was time to get up. She rolled over onto her side to face her bedroom window and her eyes immediately went to the now bare tree branch.

She immediately jumped up into a sitting position, her long jet black hair spilling over her shoulders and onto her chest, her green eyes searching the immediate area worriedly. He'd left? But when? She hadn't noticed.

Leaping off her bed and scrambling over to her bedroom window, Mayuri gripped the window sill tightly with her clawed fingers and closed her eyes and she sniffed the air, searching for Sesshomaru's scent. After a few frantic seconds she sighed. She'd found it. Sesshomaru was nearby and in an area they both knew very well.

Smiling, Mayuri ran her fingers through her hair, her claws lightly grazing her scalp, as crimson colour spread across her cheeks. Why he was, of all other places, there she didn't know but she didn't intended to leave him there alone for too long.

Once again gripping the window sill tightly, Mayuri launched herself out of her bedroom window.

The water was as cold as ice but that didn't stop him from continuing onwards. A little cold water was nothing to him.

His knee length silver hair floated atop the water behind him, fanned out in threads of shimmering silk, giving the man it belonged to an ethereal kind of presence.

The water was now right above his slim hips, the magenta stripes that ran across his skin there still clearly visible with only a small portion of them beneath the surface of the crystal clear water.

He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his long silver hair, his large, hairless chest expanding as inhaled before shrinking back to its regular size as he exhaled.

The water, though cold, was relaxing. It had been a while since he'd had a proper soaking and if he was going to meet Mayuri's parents today then he had to be at his best, then again he always was; what more could be done to improve upon perfection?

As Sesshomaru removed his fingers from his silver locks, several strands moved themselves over his shoulders and onto his broad chest.

He felt a hundred times lighter without his armour on his chest and Bakusaiga at his hip and for a moment, he wondered why he still persisted in wearing the steel chest plate. It was now a time of great peace within Japan, with Naraku dead and the Shikon Jewel no longer being sought after. His armour now felt completely unnecessary. But he would always have his sword at his side; the physical manifestation of his great power.

It was not the first time the thought had occurred to him.

The previous day when he had embraced Mayuri, an embrace that made him feel closer not only physically but also emotionally to another being, an embrace that made him so much more aware of his own feelings in that one moment than he ever had in his entire life, an embrace that had him desiring more than ever not only her body but her heart and her soul, he felt almost deprived of the true essence and warmth of her embrace because of his armour. It acted almost like a barrier that prevented him from getting as close to her as he had wanted.

He could not feel the warmth of her cheek or the softness of her breasts, he could not even feel her palms on his back because of his armour and he longed to. Maybe it was time to get rid of it.

He sensed her, he smelt her, before he even saw her.

Mere seconds after she had been detected, Mayuri emerged from the trees stopping just at the edge of the river, a smile on her beautiful freckled face.

Barefoot, hair down and wearing only a hiyoki, which was far longer than what she usually wore, she truly looked like someone who had just rolled out of bed.

"Join me." Sesshomaru requested.

"Close your eyes first." Mayuri said softly.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her command, but did as she said none the less.

He heard her when her feet entered the water and felt the ripples of the water move against his pale skin, smelt the sunrise coming closer to him.

Sesshomaru was never one to take orders from a female; he was the one who told _what_ was to be done and _how_ it was to be done. He was always in charge, always in control. He was the dominant one. The one who made the rules, none of which applied to him, only to the female. But for now he would let her have some semblance of power. Later, when he would truly have her...he would do one of the many things he did best.

He felt her fingers lightly skim the skin that was stretched across his flat stomach and his hard abs and shuddered.

A soft giggle followed.

"What-"

"Shh." She said. He felt her finger on his lips.

He felt her palm on his stomach, sliding up over his chest and resting on his shoulder. The hand from which the finger on his lips came was now resting on his cheek, the thumb of it moving slowly in circles caressing his skin and within moments he felt the suppleness of her breasts pressed against his chest, her body, warm and soft and delicate, leaning against his own and the warmth of her breath on his lips.

Opening his eyes he saw nothing but freckles and green eyes starting up into his amber.

His right arm came around her waist, pulling her closer still, and the other found its fingers woven into her silken jet black tresses.

"Close your eyes." He whispered.

And without a moment's hesitation, her eye lids with their thick lashes closed down up her eyes of green and he was the one with all the power.

Leaning forward, he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against hers. Immediately she opened her mouth to him.

Within this kiss they poured all of their pent up desire and passion for each other, the sexual tension that was between them, the sexual frustration that they induced in each other and the fire that burned inside them.

Sesshomaru's hands left her waist, her hair and went to her backside which he had for so long wished to squeeze and caress, which is exactly what he did. His actions making Mayuri moan into his mouth and her moan, her body, making his organ stir to life.

Their kiss was aggressive and fierce and they were breathing so hard the air could be heard leaving their nostrils.

He heard her moan again and felt her fingers grip his shoulder tightly and felt her press her body harder against his.

He broke their kiss, gazing into her green eyes as he caught his breath. She too was breathing heavily and her lips were now swollen from his rough kissing. His hand left her hair and came to her cheek, his thumb running along her lower lip.

He could feel his erection pressing against her stomach and it was only now that he realised she had been standing on her toes.

Sesshomaru lifted her onto his body, spreading her legs and wrapping them around his waist.

Taking his time he took them out of the ice cold waters of the river, standing on the grass before lying Mayuri gently on the soft grass, keeping his body atop hers and never ones tearing his eyes away from hers.

He moved his hand from her behind, moving it up her side and bringing it to cup her caramel tipped breast.

"No. Not yet." she said as she took hold of his wrist, moving his hand away and resting it on her cheek.

"Hmm."Sesshomaru groaned as he ground his hips, moving his erection against her crotch.

"No." She moaned quietly, the hand around his wrist gripping it slightly tighter.

"Hmm." He groaned again, leaning into her neck and rubbing his nose against her skin.

"You tempt me." He whispered into her ear.

Mayuri sighed as she closed her eyes.

"As do you." She said.

Sesshomaru gently ran his fang across the skin of her neck and felt her squeeze her thighs tighter around his waist. He kissed her neck then, before leaving it to press his lips against her own and this time kissing her slower, gentler and pouring all of the love he now felt for her into that one simple action.


	11. Chapter 11

He lied on his side next to her; she was on her back with her eyes closed and breathing lightly as she relaxed completely naked on the grass by the edge of the river which they had just left.

Her entire body was completely exposed to his ravenous eyes and he couldn't help but drink in the delectable treat laid out before him, and her breasts were his main concern; they were not large like those of women who seemed to carry around watermelons on their chest but they were not small either, Sesshomaru knew, for a fact, that one of her breasts could fit comfortably into his hand. Her nipples pointed straight up, hardened into caramel buds that he longed to lick and suck and nibble on, but he knew that even though she lied naked in front of him, in total comfort, she would not let him take her.

Even so, as he lied there next to her, completely naked as well and sporting a near painful erection, they called to him; begging to be touched and rubbed and caressed.

He laid his hand on her ribcage, rubbing it along the thin layer of skin and flesh that protected it back and forth, before taking his hand to her breast and squeezing. Immediately he saw her press her thighs together, though that did not stop the scent of her arousal from reaching his nose, and gripped his wrist once again, pulling his hand away from her chest.

"I said no." Mayuri said softly and not at all in an annoyed sort of tone.

Sesshomaru leaned into her neck and nibbled on her flesh there before rubbing his nose against her skin.

"Woman…you tempt this Sesshomaru." He said in a low voice as he continued rub his nose against her neck.

Mayuri only moaned.

"Mmm." was Sesshomaru's response.

His hand came to her cheek and gently pushed her face to his own. His lips came down on hers and she instantly opened her mouth to him, her arms coming around his back.

Sesshomaru not gripped _her_ wrist and move _her_ hand on _his_ person; he guided her hand down his back, over his flat stomach and hard abs and further still. When her hand came to rest on his erection he felt her try to pull her hand away from his but he only gripped tighter before moving her hand, which she insisted on keeping open, along his length.

She pulled away from his lips.

"Sessh-"

He silenced her with his mouth and felt her fighting a losing battle; resisting the urge to melt with his kiss. He knew eventually she would give into it, and she did.

Her muscles relaxed and she let herself go, gave herself fully to the kiss they now shared even though she knew he was just doing it to shut her up and get her to do as he wished and she would, for now. Eventually though, she would be once again be in control of the situation; they were not going to mate before she said they could and he would not make her forget her inhibitions as he was now, with his kisses and his caress, distracting her from her thoughts and objections.

No, Sesshomaru would not retain his power over her for every long and right now he only did because she allowed it.

Sesshomaru continued to rub her open hand against his length and soon he felt her arm relax in his hand.

He let go of her wrist. She did not move her hand, not even from his erection than now rested in her palm. Smirking to himself Sesshomaru started to move his hips, sliding his erection against the inside of her hand and eventually he felt her fingers close around him.

Breaking away from their kiss, he rested his hand on her cheek and stared into her green eyes and she stared back into his amber, concentrating on nothing more than the feel of the smoothness and softness of her palm against his rigidity.

She started to move her hand on his erection, slowly and gently as if she wished to drag out the process and torture him with the pleasure she was making him feel. He closed his eyes as a soft moan left him and began to rock his hips in time with the movement of her hand against his erection, the muscles in his thighs tensing with each stroke of her dainty hand.

The scent of her arousal, mixed with his, was thick in the air. They melded together so perfectly, so sensationally, that the smell was nothing more than intoxicating; like a drug, and every time Sesshomaru inhaled the heady scent he felt a kind of giddiness take over him in the most blissful of ways.

She studied his face as she stroked his erection, it was still as stoic as always but she did not need facial expressions to tell her he was thoroughly enjoying her treatment of his erection; the tensing of his muscles, his moaning, plus, what male would not enjoy a beautiful woman who he was clearly physically attracted to doing him a sexual favour? Giving him release from all his frustrations that she was doubt the source of?

Her palm was starting to sweat and made her hand glide over his erection that much easier, that much better and only making him feel that much more pleasure and moan that much more.

Sesshomaru could feel himself getting closer. The pleasure he was feeling was becoming more intense, he felt his body grow warmer, felt a pulsating sensation travel up to the tip of his erection, steadily getting faster and more intense, his moaning becoming more like growls.

His final moan was long, low and vibrated heavily in his throat. His body trembled slightly as his erection twitched in Mayuri's hand and his seed was spilt onto it, sliding down her arm as a sticky white liquid and what was left in her palm was spread across his length as she continued to stroke him as his orgasm shook his body.

He took a deep breath, stretching his neck this way and that as he exhaled.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at Mayuri who had by now stopped stroking his now shrinking erection, and gave her a small smiled.

"You did well." He said.

Mayuri chuckled a little, raising and eyebrow.

"Of course I did." She said.

Mayuri removed her hand from his now flaccid length and stared at it, watching the sticky white liquid slide down her arm.

"Shall I wash this off, or do you prefer for me to lick it and swallow it?" She asked almost randomly.

Sesshomaru was quite taken aback by her statement, it was not something he would think Mayuri to say or even to think; she seemed like such an almost prudish female who would shun such an action as swallowing someone's seed and far less licking it. It seemed he was now beginning to discover her sexual side and he, of course, was liking it.

"Well?" She asked.

Sesshomaru smirked.

"Swallow."

She raised her eyebrow once again and looked him dead in the eye as she raised her arm to her lips and stuck out her tongue, licking his seed off her skin from her elbow right up to her finger tips, again and again until all of it was in her mouth. With her last lick she stuck out her tongue, showed him the inside of her mouth before closing it and swallowing his seed.

"Hmm." Sesshomaru said.

Mayuri propped herself up on her elbows, drawing her face close to Sesshomaru's and gave him a peck on his lips.

"You amaze me." Sesshomaru said as his arm came around her front, wrapping around her waist.

Mayuri licked his lips.

"You entice me." She said.

Sesshomaru gently pushed her down on her back, climbed on top of her and nestled himself between her legs, his arm now wrapped around her back and the other he brought once again to her breast.

Mayuri shook her head, moving his hand away.

"Not today." She said.

Sesshomaru growled playfully, grinding himself against her crotch again and getting the very same response he had the first time.

"When?" He asked.

"I'll let you know." She said grinning.

"Mmm." Was Sesshomaru's response

"Besides, it's just about time for me to introduce you to my parents."

A/N: It has been a while since the last chapter it feels like, maybe because I kind of struggled with this chapter, I could not figure out whether or not it was too early to have them do something sexual but at the same time I cannot find a reason for them not to anymore, but Mayuri is Mayuri so they could not mate yet that much was for sure. Please tell me if you think this has come too soon, I would really like to hear from you especially about this chapter, I really do not feel as if it is my best.

Also I would like to ask you if you have seen any symbolism or imagery or something of the sort in the story thus far and if there is a theme you can see arising.

I would like to thank CRdragonPyro especially for her loyalty in reviewing every chapter and hope to hear from you always  and I'd also like to think those of you that have favourite this story and placed it on your story alert and have reviewed as well.

I would also like to ask you to head over to to read my fanfiction "The Unexpected – Rain on Sakura Blossoms" it's quite old but I still love it and its not getting any reviews over there lol and not on here either but here it hasn't been uploaded in its entirety hence why I have asked you to go to mediaminer. Here is the link: .org/fanfic/view_?id=151847&cid=529807&submit=View

It is a sequel to another fanfic I did about Sesshomaru and it is about his son and his journey of love. The prequel however was on animespiral which no longer exists.

Thank you all once again!


	12. Chapter 12

Mayuri took a deep breath, steadying herself for the encounter she had been anticipating all day but had been in no way prepared for. She didn't think she would've ever been really ready; after all the man she was bringing home to her parents today was not just another guy she had gotten into a serious relationship with. Oh no, this time the man she brought home to her parents, the ever judgemental persons she had spent her two hundred plus years of life with, was in fact someone she had every intention of spending the rest of eternity with and who had every intention of spending the rest of eternity with her.

She knew full well that her parents were aware of her presence outside the main door to their home. How could they not be? She knew full well that they were aware of the fact that she had company; male company. Again, why would they not?

They were simply going about their business, not at all bothered with what their daughter was doing. After Mayuri had reached a stage they considered to be her adulthood, they simply let her do as she pleased; for they had full confidence in their ability as parents and believed they had raised a fine young woman who would do only what is best for her; they did not feel like they needed to worry about their daughter.

So it came as no surprise to Mayuri that even though she was standing right outside their door, with a male in tow no less, that they did not come over to see what she was doing.

At times it really felt as if her parents completely ignored her, but she knew in her heart that even though they left her to her own devices that they were in the background, forever watching and worrying. To her it was simply that they wanted her to be as independent as possible. But seeing as she was not yet mated, well, she had to continue to live in their house until such a time came and here it had.

She felt a little pang of hurt in her heart as she stood there at the door, thinking of how when she was mated to Sesshomaru she would have to leave her parents' house, the home she had known forever. As alone as they left her she had never felt isolated. But now, she would have to move and far away. What would she do without having her mama within the immediate facility? Without her papa in the immediate facility? They had always been there. Always. Now they were going to be so far away.

Her fingers gripped the fabric over her heart as tightly as her dainty hands could allow and within mere moments she felt Sesshomaru's hands come around her, felt his check on the crown of her head.

"Relax." He said in low voice meant to do what he had instructed.

Her hands came to rest on his and she once again took a deep breath, but this time in measure with his own. She closed her eyes and continued to match her breathing with his, slowly relaxing against his chest until she had laid all her weight upon him which, which she knew he could easily support.

"Regardless of what your parents say of me, I will still be of the intention of mating you Mayuri." Sesshomaru said.

She could not stop the enormous smile that spread across her face like a fire fanned. Mayuri turned around in his arms and tilted her head backwards to look up at him. His amber eyes were still as beautiful as ever and a sudden feeling of joy washed over her at knowing she would wake up to those amber orbs everyday for all eternity.

"But to mate without my parents' blessing…"

He silenced her with a finger to her full lips.

"It matters not to me. As far as I am concerned Mayuri, you are mine and no one can tell me otherwise."

Was it not impossible for her smile to get larger?

"You comfort me." She said as she laid her cheek against the cold armor on his chest. "Come. To my parents we shall go."

Sesshomaru rested his hand on the back of her head and slowly started to stroke her hair. Even though she had proclaimed her preparedness for introducing him to her parents, he could still feel the tension and nerves in her body as she held him and wanted to comfort and relax her further.

This was his first time being introduced to a female's parents, but then again he was having a lot of firsts with Mayuri wasn't he? And especially first love. Sesshomaru was very surprised that he could feel so passionate and fierce an emotion for another being and the only other person he could say he felt similarly about was Rin, but his love for her was a different kind of love.

The love he felt for Mayuri was…beyond description. He really could not begin to find the words to describe what it was he was feeling for the female that he now held, enveloped with his body that was so much bigger than hers but was still yearning for more; that armor of his, after much contemplation he could not part with it, was getting in the way again.

His hands came from around her but she did not let him go. He unfastened the straps of his heavy steel plate and lifted it off of his head, his long silver mane having to be pulled out of it once the armor was off of his body.

Laying it gently on the ground, Mayuri still holding onto him; simply moving her body accordingly, he brought his arms around her again and pulled her tighter to his body, glad to be able to feel the warmth of her against him. His cheek was on the crown of her head again and his hand was in her hair, stroking it, running his fingers through it.

He had never in his life embraced someone as much and as often as he did Mayuri and not with such ease; in fact, Sesshomaru could not remember embracing anyone before her. But how could he not now? Holding her in his arms felt like the most natural thing to him and there was an intimacy about it that just made him feel happy and more alive than he had ever felt and this overwhelming positivity and this warmth that just spread all over his body and made him feel the most sensational euphoria ever. How could he not want to embrace her?

He removed his cheek from her crown and placed both his hands atop her head, before tilting it backwards and looking into her green eyes, taking his amber orbs away only briefly to look at her freckles. As he leaned in she raised herself up on her toes, meeting him half way for the light kiss he placed on her lips.

She groaned disappointedly.

He chuckled.

"Later." He said. "We must attend to the business at hand."

Mayuri nodded as she took another deep breath and turned on her heel to face the door that had just minutes before intimidated her. She slowly slid open the door and stepped inside, Sesshomaru close behind.

"Mama! Papa!" She called.

Moments later a young girl came shuffling quickly around the corner and bowed to Mayuri.

"They are in the garden." The girl said in a quiet voice.

Mayuri nodded.

"Arigato Kita."

Mayuri continued to lead the way, going through a few fusuma before going through another shoji. When the shoji slid open they were met with a most beautiful sight; in the middle of the garden was a pond in which numerous koi fish swam and a few feet away from it was a Sakura tree adorned in thousands of white blossoms, some of which floated atop the water. There was a Momo tree to the far left of the Sakura tree and a Mokuren with its violet flowers that faced them both. Some Tsutsuji bushes, flowers of pink decorating it, stood between the Momo and Sakura. Fuji and their purple colouring, draped next to the Sakura as well as the Mokuren and the Momiji, with their shocking orange and tame green, stood at opposite ends of the garden, one near the Momo and the other near the Mokuren.

A bench was situated by the koi pond and on it sat her mother and father who were feeding the colourful fish.

"Mayuri." Her mother said as she looked up, interest apparent in her smooth voice.

Her father looked up as well and simply nodded.

"Mama, Papa." She began, nodding at each of them. "This is Sesshomaru and I am to become his mate."


	13. Chapter 13

Kohana and Yuuta rose slowly from their seats; Kohana retrieving a fan from her kimono, snapping it open and concealing the bottom half of her face.

"As in _the_ Lord Sesshomaru?" She asked in a soft, almost bored drawl.

"I am he." Sesshomaru said with a slight inclining of his silver locked head.

Mayuri watched her mother move the fan down and away from her face with a slow deliberateness and she knew the look that had now appeared on Kohana's delicate features; she was judging. Mayuri knew she was going to do this, but was confident that Sesshomaru would be able to pass the inspection that every male she took home had to endure; if Kohana did not deem him worthy of the daughter she had brought into the world, then he surely was not! Mayuri trusted her mother's judgments of people, for she was sharp and quite adept when it came to reading people.

She continued to start at Sesshomaru, but not his face, not as yet. She was reading his body language and it was telling her that this man was, as expected of a Lord, arrogant, but there was also a gentleness about him that, at first glance, one would never see. He stood before her in a manner which dared her object to the union of him and her daughter and at the same time spoke of his readiness to do just that. He stood very close to Mayuri, which told her he cared a great deal for her and that he was in love with her, but many a man had fallen in love with her daughter and her daughter with them, but this was very different.

Her eyes went to her daughter and there was a radiance about her that she had never seen in the girl and it greatly intrigued and pleased her.

Kohana's green eyes returned to Sesshomaru and this time they were fixated on his amber. She once again saw the arrogance he held in his body and the love and care he held for her daughter, but she also saw strength of character, passion, determination, loyalty, compassion, obstinacy, pride.

Here was a man, standing before her and patiently waiting for her judgment; she found another quality within him. She was more than glad to see loyalty in him. It meant that he was not the type, like most men, to have a mate and then a mistress or two or more on the side. No, he would not do that to her daughter and for that she was very glad indeed.

She had to say that this man was one of high caliber and definitely worthy of her child. Not that her previous partners were not at all up to scratch, her daughter had impeccable taste in men and Kohana was very proud of the fact that she had raised Mayuri as a no nonsense type of female, but there was always something about them that made Kohana feel like they just were not right for Mayuri; they did not have the strength required to spend all eternity with one such as a daughter.

Mayuri was, in many ways as far as Kohana could see, almost exactly like the man she had brought home; she was tenacious just as he was, compassionate, passionate, loyal. The only difference she could now see was where Sesshomaru was arrogant, her daughter was modest.

Oh no, Mayuri was never one to flaunt her beauty or brag of her achievements or believed herself superior to any person. She always complimented people and stroked their egos if need be, just to make them feel that much better about themselves. As a confident woman, her daughter did not like to know that those she cared about felt awful about themselves, for there was a beauty she saw inside of them that she wanted them to see in themselves.

Kohana brought the fan from her face and snapped it shut before putting it back in its place in her kimono.

She turned to her daughter who was now fidgeting with anxiety; biting her lip and twiddling her thumbs, which she expected for Mayuri was always nervous when she brought home a male for her to inspect. Unexpectedly however, Sesshomaru brought his hand around her daughter's waist and pulled her into his side and without a moment's hesitation, Mayuri rested her head onto the armor of his chest and soon her fidgeting had stopped.

Not one of the previous men Mayuri had brought home was bold enough to touch her in front of them, not even so much as to hold her hand; they were always so dreadfully intimidated by her, not even so much Mayuri's father, and constantly on edge whenever they were around her. But Sesshomaru, he was not intimidated and he was not nervous. He was confident! Her daughter, his intended, needed comfort and he did not care at all that she was present; he was going to give it.

"Do not forget what I said." She heard him whisper to her as he looked down at the top of her head.

Kohana raised a brunette brow.

"And what was it that you said to my daughter?" She asked.

Still looking down at her, he squeezed her tighter against his side as she turned to look up at him.

"I told her that regardless of what you say of me, I will still be of the intention to of making her my mate." He did not take his eyes off of Mayuri, not even to blink.

Kohana watched as a smile crept across her daughter's face and her cheeks turned red.

"Very well then. Yuuta, have you anything to say?" She asked, looking to her side and acknowledging her own mate for the first time.

He nodded to her.

"I believe you know what is best." He said quietly. Yuuta was not afraid to question his wife, he simply let her take the reins when it came to most things, especially their daughter; only a woman could understand another woman after all.

He had made a fine choice in a mate. Kohana was as stubborn as she was beautiful; silky brown hair, slim figure, tall, green eyes that were the only thing their daughter had inherited from her, full pink lips and olive skin. She did not have as much curves as her daughter and her daughter had breasts far bigger than her mother's ,for Mayuri had taken after her father.

_He_ was the one with the jet black hair and the freckles and it was _his _side of the family that had the women with the multitude of curves and the bigger breasts. Yuuta himself was not quite so tall but he was not shorter than his mate, and Mayuri was, and for a man of his age he still had a build to rival that of any young man in his prime. He had the same colour as his wife, his eyes however, were brown.

He looked to his mate now and smiled. Yes, he had made a fine choice indeed. He could not have been happier with the woman who was standing by his side, a woman he had spent more than four hundred years of life with, a woman who had borne him eight wonderful children and hopefully more in the future, a woman that he never had and never would be bored with.

"Either way Mayuri's father and I have no say in the matter do we?" Kohana asked.

Sesshomaru shook his head, looking away from Mayuri for the first time to acknowledge her mother.

"You do not."

Kohana nodded.

"Well, even if it doesn't matter, you have my approval." She said.

Mayuri gasped and looked to her mother.

"We do?" She asked.

Kohana smiled sweetly to her daughter and nodded.

With that Mayuri let out a squeal of pure joy and instantly clung onto Sesshomaru.

Chuckling, Kohana took the hand of her mate and led him away from the garden, her daughter and her intended needed to have some time alone.

After the initial joy wore off Mayuri pulled herself off Sesshomaru enough that he was at arm's length. The smile on her face was so broad and so bright that it seemed almost permanent.

"I do believe I owe you." Sesshomaru said.

The impossible occurred, Mayuri's smiled got wider.

Sesshomaru unfastened the straps that held his armor to his body and the heavy metal piece banged against the hard ground. Stepping out of it, he took Mayuri by the waist as she took him by the shoulders before lifting herself onto him and wrapping her legs around his waist. He held her in place with only one arm as the hand of the other rested itself upon her cheek . Her arms were placed one around his neck and the other, its hand in his silver hair.

Smiling as she was filled with a joy more profound than any other feeling she had at the moment, she leaned into him as he leaned into her and their lips met in a kiss so passionate it rivaled their first.

"Stay with me?" She asked when she came up for air, looking in his eyes.

He kissed her.

"Yes, but only for a few days." He replied.

Her smile turned into a frown of the cute persuasion.

"Fret not," he ran his fingers through her jet black locks. "You are coming with me."

Her smile returned.

"To where are we going?" She asked.

He ran his fingers through her hair again before he rested it on her cheek once again.

"There is someone I wish for you to meet."

Mayuri removed her legs from around his body, but no her arms. The loss of altitude however, now placed her hands upon his armourless chest.

"Who?" She asked.

Sesshomaru pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead, caressing the skin on her cheek with his thumb.

"My ward." He said. "My Rin."

A/N: Can anyone guess which of the eight Mayuri is?


	14. Chapter 14

He was right there, little more than a sliver of fabric away, and yet still he felt so far away. She missed him, greatly, even though she knew she would see him again in only a few hours but she didn't want to wait that long; she wanted to see him now. She sighed. She could not. He was probably asleep, dreaming sweet dreams which she would only interrupt if she would try to wake him.

She sighed. How exactly, did she come to feel this way about him? To feel so strongly? To care? To…a lump had suddenly developed in her throat. She wasn't even going to say the words, but just thinking them…just thinking that she did…she could not even finish the sentence in her head. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and steadying herself as her hand, which had been pressed against the screen door that separated her from Sesshomaru, slid down some ways as she held over.

Sleep had had evaded this night, and she knew it would only come back to her once she was in Sesshomaru's arms; lying next to him curled up in a ball with her face buried in his wide chest as his large body enveloped her and drowned her in its warmth. With his long, lean, muscular arm draped over her waist and his lips on her forehead and his hair between her fingers.

To be with him now, to feel his body lying next to hers would be heaven; it was the one thing she wanted most at the moment and as long as she could not have it she would completely restless, unable to sleep and on the verge of choking on her own sweet thoughts.

She took another deep breath, held it longer than the first and then let it go, breathing heavily for quite the while afterwards. It had helped. She felt a bit better. But she was still unable to sleep.

She needed to get over this feeling and stop wallowing in some unreasonable sadness. He was right there, in the next room, separated from him by only _a sliver of fabric_ and she _would_ be seeing him in the morning and _for the rest of the day_ for that matter. Why get upset? Why feel sad? Why feel even a little bit lonely? It was not like this time she didn't know he would leave; she knew. And she was going with him.

No need to feel sad.

No need to feel lonely.

It was completely unreasonable.

Breathing a sigh of relief and feeling much calmer, Mayuri straightened up and was moving away from the door…

"You long for me."

She was frozen in place, her breath stuck midway in her throat and her eyes wide, the tips of her fingers barely touching the fabric of the screen door and even with such a small surface area of skin she could feel the warmth of his hand pressed against it. The heat of his palm was calling out to her and slowly she rested her own palm against his.

"Sesshomaru." She breathed with joy.

"I am here." He said simply.

A broad smile came upon her face and the blanket around her felt stifling, as if it were roasting her in her own skin. She quickly shrugged it off and eagerly pressed her entire body against the screen door, trying to get as close as possible to his hand, just his hand, without breaking through the fabric.

"I missed you." She moaned.

He rubbed his palm against hers, slowly and soothingly.

"I know."

Sesshomaru sat with his side to the screen, topless and wearing only his hakama, with one leg outstretched and the other pulled to him with his free hand resting on its knee.

He too could not sleep, but then again he barely slept these days anyway so it was not a shock to him. But he could almost feel her longing for him through the screen and the sadness that had come with it. It was like a cold breeze was flowing out of her room through the crack between the floor and the bottom of the door and that more than anything had kept him awake.

She was happy now, and there was a warmth flowing through her that he felt not only because his palm was pressed against hers.

He could see the impression of her body on the screen. He removed his hand from his knee and reached out to her form, running the tips of his fingers along her side as he felt her muscles tense beneath his finger and relax once it had left the area.

Sesshomaru would have preferred to share a room with her, and he could have; Mayuri had told him that she was allowed to do whatever she pleased and whenever and that her parents would have had no problem, but out of respect he could not.

Mayuri was their child and she could do as she pleased in their home but he, as a guest, did not have that luxury. He would be respectful to them and stay clear of her bedroom until they were mated and he would make sure she stayed away from his. As much as it pained him, and especially in his groin, he would do it; her parents needed to see that he was serious about their daughter and not only that he respected them, but Mayuri as well.

"Come to me." She pleaded softly.

Sesshomaru pressed his palm harder against hers.

"I cannot." He said.

"But why?" She asked as she too pressed her palm harder against his.

"You, woman, tempt me greatly. Do you not realise how much?" He asked.

Mayuri pressed her cheek against the fabric of the screen, almost as if in doing so she would be able to feel the heat of him on her face.

"Do you not realise how much you tempt _me_?" She asked back.

Sesshomaru chuckled.

"Of course." He answered.

Mayuri gave a soft giggle, covering her mouth with her hand as she did so, her eyes closed as she lowered her head and her jet black her tumbled over her shoulder.

"Well then, you must know how difficult it is for me to resist you. And yet still I manage to." She stated firmly.

Sesshomaru shook his silver locked head in amusement.

"But for how long Mayuri, would you be able to resist my pull? Would you be able to stop yourself from lying with me?" He asked in a seductive tone.

She was silent for a long while and he knew that what he said, and especially how he said it, had affected her in the intended way. He knew she was on the other side of the screen most likely forming images in her head of what he would do to her once he got the chance; how could she not? A statement like that was sure to provoke thoughts.

"Mayuri?" He asked.

"Mhm." She replied softly.

"Get off the screen." He commanded.

He saw the silhouette of her body disappear, and as soon as it did he slid open the screen door, gradually. Little by little she came into view; she was wearing a white, sheer kimono that left her naked body beneath it visible to his eyes. She sat on her side, one thigh sitting atop the other, and her jet black hair spilling over her shoulders, looking up at him with a cuteness in her eyes that, coupled with the fact that her body was basically exposed to him, made his groin stir.

Reaching out to her he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him before resting his palm on her cheek and leaning in to kiss her.

"I believe I owed you that." He said once their kiss was broken.

She was stuck in the position he had put her in, eyes still closed and lip drawn between her teeth. She stayed that way for a few seconds before saying: "Indeed you did."

"I shall share your room Mayuri," he began as he stroked his thumb against her cheek. "But only when I share your bed."

She smiled and reached out to him, running her fingers through his silver locks, the silky texture of his hair and the absence of tangles gave it a pleasant feel.

"Do you love me Sesshomaru?" She asked, almost out of the blue.

He halted his caressing of her cheek.

"Why do you ask this?" He asked.

A redness came to her face, she took her eyes away from him for a moment, staring at the floor as if it were her new found fascination before taking her eyes to him again.

"Because I realised tonight…that_ I_ love _you_." She said shyly.

Sesshomaru stared into her eyes and he knew she was being sincere, that she wasn't just saying it so that he would. He pulled her into him again and gave her another kiss; it was soft yet passionate.

"And I, Mayuri, love you."

A tear rolled off of her cheek.


	15. Chapter 15

They had decided to spend their afternoon in the garden. It seemed the perfect place to be, calm and quiet and almost secluded from the rest of the house; the perfect place for two people who had proclaimed their love for each other just the night before.

The sky was cloudless, the air cool and the petals from the sakura blossoms were scattered all across the crisp, green grass and sitting atop the heads of the two lovers and in the folds of their clothes.

Sesshomaru removed a petal from Mayuri's hair.

They were sitting beneath the tree from which it had fallen; Sesshomaru with his back against its trunk, his armour absent, and Mayuri occupying the space between his legs, resting against his chest with her head against his shoulder. Sesshomaru's arms were around her waist and her hands rested atop his.

There had been no conversation between them thus far, but they had not felt the need for there to be one; they were simply enjoying each other's company and at the moment that was all that was necessary.

Even after Mayuri had fallen asleep the night before, Sesshomaru had not.

He had known for a while that his feelings for Mayuri had evolved from simple, primal lust into the unfamiliar emotion of love but actually saying it, telling her that he loved her, was completely different; looking her in her eyes and saying the words to her, without hesitation, seemed to be something that Sesshomaru did not, would not, do. But then as he thought about it he realised that it was not so out of character; since when was it not like to state pure fact? It was Sesshomaru's way when face with something that was absolutely certain, to face and acknowledge it. Not cower and hide from it. Sesshomaru was not a coward!

Besides, had he not changed?

Four or five years ago he would never have lingered on Mayuri. If she had turned him down, which was a rare occurrence; he would have simply proclaimed her a prude and let her know exactly what she would be missing out in before leaving her and seeking out another female with which to lie.

But he was forever changed. Thanks to the wisdom of his father and the kindness of a little girl. Rin.

He, along with Mayuri, would be visiting the ray of sunshine soon. It was very important to him that Rin met the woman he would be spending eternity with; if she was to return to him in the future she should not have to put up with Mayuri's presence, it would have to be the other way around. It was also very important to him that the two of them got along well, like a mother and her daughter maybe. That would be nice, to have his two girls share that kind of bond and love each other completely.

That would be perfect.

He groaned as he leant over and buried his nose in Mayuri's neck, rubbing the tip of it against her skin. She giggled, pulling away slightly.

She looked back at him and he saw such joy in her green eyes. A smile spread across her freckled face and she leaned in, giving him a peck on his lips.

Sesshomaru smirked. Before she knew it he had her pinned beneath him, her back on the grass and he was kissing her passionately.

Mayuri pulled away reluctantly.

"Sesshomaru!" She said.

She felt the warmth of the air leaving his nose as he groaned in her ear.

"What if my parents see?" She asked, trying with little effort to get him off of her.

He kissed her again, softer and slower and with more patience, holding her bottom lip between his teeth for a few moments when he pulled away.

"What if your parents see? They know that we do things of this sort." He said as he looked down at her.

Mayuri's hands had somehow got underneath the fabric of his haori. She could feel the muscles of his hard chest beneath her palms as they rose and fell with every steady breath he took. Sesshomaru was not position between her legs, that the heavens; he was beside her, the only parts of them that were really touching were her palms and his chest and his stomach and her side.

He was so much stronger than her. Even if she did try to get him off it would not work.

"Just because they know doesn't mean they should see." She said playfully.

Sesshomaru kissed her again and rolled off of her.

They laid there on the grass; she on her back with her hands on her stomach an him, also on his back with his hands tucked beneath his head, looking up at the cloudless sky and were once again silent.

She was going to meet his ward. A human girl from what he had told her. Mayuri was a little surprised to discover this. Sesshomaru had quite the reputation and she would never have guessed from what she had heard that one such as him would keep a human child and actually "raise" and look after it. And a little girl for that matter.

The fact that he had kept this little girl and looked after her told her something about him and it was very comforting. He loved children, even if he wouldn't or didn't say it.

They had not spoken of having children and it really had not occurred to Mayuri to bring it up, but then again she had spent most of her time trying not to sleep with him, trying to ignore him. She wanted children and lots of them. Just like her parents. She knew that it was quite obvious Sesshomaru would want children; as a lord he would want to continue his lineage but it was more than just that that she wanted from him when it came to children, she wanted him to want children because he loved them and because he could not imagine a future with her without them, because he understood that yes, having children was hard but that it was so much more joyful and fulfilling and that all the blood, sweat and tears that went into raising a child was all worth it.

Growing up in a large family, Mayuri would not imagine a life without children and she could not imagine having a child and not giving it the joy of siblings, older and younger all the same. Her siblings were such a big part of her youth and of her life in general. Had she been an only child she did not know whether or not she would have been able to be so giving; she would have gotten everything she wanted and not have to share with anyone. Of course when she was child she did not like to share with her siblings but her parents always made her do it and showed her the importance of it.

Selfishness was an ugly quality for anyone to have.

She would teach her own children to be selfless, just as her parents had taught her.

She sighed and turned to Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru, do you want children?" She asked.

He turned to her.

"Yes. Do you?" He asked.

She smiled.

"Very much so." She replied.

"Then we shall have children." He said.

Her smile grew wider and she rolled over next to him, lying her head on his chest and her hand on his stomach as he brought a hand from beneath his head to stroke her hair.

"I want an entire army of children; enough to conquer Japan." She sighed.

"I shall try my best." He said.

Mayuri giggled. She turned over and faced him, her breasts pressed against the left side of his chest. She made the index and middle fingers of her right hand walked along the hard muscle, up his neck and onto his lips as she said: "A whole army of children. We'll need to be very busy won't we?"

Sesshomaru groaned and she laughed.

Her hand came to cup his cheek as she stared into his amber eyes while her thumb caressed his cheek. He was so beautiful, with his elfish feature. Especially his ears. But hers were just the same, never mind they were hardly ever visible seeing as she wore her hair down most of the time. She moved her thumb to his lower lip and ran it across it; his lips were so soft and pink.

He leant up and kissed her, again.

"Don't you grow tired of my lips?" She asked.

Sesshomaru shook his head.

"Why would I?" He asked.

She shrugged and smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

Kohana held her daughter's hand in her own; her left hand palm to palm with it and her right resting on top of it. Her daughter was leaving today, to go see Lord Sesshomaru's ward; a human girl by the name of Rin.

How odd.

That one such as the Great Lord Sesshomaru would keep and care for a human child. It was certainly a rarity in the youkai world for a youkai to care for a human, but Sesshomaru did.

As odd as it was however, Kohana saw it as a sign that Sesshomaru would, and probably did, love her daughter more than she could possibly expect and it brought it great comfort; this was the man her daughter had chosen to spend eternity with and that was a serious decision. She wanted the man chosen to be worthy of her daughter; her love and her generosity.

He needed to be someone she knew without a matter of a doubt could make and keep her daughter happy, could love her beyond measure, could protect her and care for her, could make her feel special, could give her that warm, fuzzy sensation whenever he eyes came upon him. Kohana was not asking for perfection, that was after all a myth, but Sesshomaru seemed to come pretty damn close if her daughter, a woman of very high standards, found him suitable as a mate.

She liked him though, Lord Sesshomaru. Kohana knew her daughter had asked him to stay in her bedroom and she knew that he had refused. A good man he was.

Usually when Mayuri brought a male home he opted to sleep in a separate bedroom because he was intimidated by herself and her mate or some of them were so arrogant that they cared not what they thought of them sharing a bedroom together and simply did as he liked, but Lord Sesshomaru was neither intimidated nor _that_ arrogant; he was respectful. And not only to herself and her mate, but by extension her daughter; he could not be respectful to them without first being respectful to her daughter and that was what she liked about him.

Yuuta adored him already, after seeing him with their daughter in the garden and witnessing firsthand the love between them when they were alone and no one was there to inhibit their expression of that love, he adored him. Anyone that could make his daughter as happy as he had seen her that day, in Yuuta's eyes, was worth the adoration.

Kohana and Yuuta loved Mayuri so very much, they loved all their children. But Mayuri being the last of the eight, the baby, she was just so doted upon in her childhood. And even though Kohana and Yuuta left her to her own devices, let her make her own decisions and mistakes, they still worried and they still cared and they still loved her greatly, deeply and unconditionally. She was still their baby and they were always there when she needed them no matter what the situation.

She was a special girl and they had raised her so very well.

"You are sure that Lord Sesshomaru is the one with whom you are ready to spend eternity with?" Kohana asked her daughter.

Mayuri sighed.

"Mother," Mayuri started, shifting her weight on the bed she sat on facing her mother. "You have asked a million times and I will say again: Yes I am sure. Even though he is an arrogant bastard and his approach to me in the begging was, to say the least, disgusting, disrespectful and repulsive, he has come to love and respect me in a way I would not have expected and it is because of the way you have raised me and the person you moulded me into. So really mama, it is you and papa I have to thank for finding me my perfect mate."

Her daughter had said her words with such passion that Kohana found it very hard to argue.

"I did not teach you to put a sword to someone's throat when he has offended you." Kohana laughed.

Mayuri threw her head back and laughed until tears formed in her eyes.

"No mama, papa taught me that." She said wiping them away.

"Yes, your father did train you very well in swordsmanship." She said with a giggle.

Mayuri joined it.

Kohana sighed, placing her hand on her daughter's cheek and giving her a smile.

"If you are sure Mayuri, I trust your judgement, for you are of my womb and not a child I have borne has been wrong in their choosing." She said

Mayuri returned her mother's smile.

"Did Nori and Amaya get this same talk when they chose their mates?" Mayuri asked.

Kohana nodded.

"Of course your sisters got the same talk. I have to make sure my girls are taken care of when they leave my house." Kohana said shaking her daughter's head.

Mayuri giggled.

"Oh and Haruki, Daijro, Oda, Ryuunosuke and Suoh did not need a talk?" She asked playfully.

Kohana smiled and shook her head.

"Your brothers got a talk, just not from me." She said.

"Papa?" Mayuri asked.

Kohana nodded.

Mayuri gasped.

"So you mean…?"

Kohana nodded once again.

oOo

Yuuta poured himself some sake and then did the same for his guest. The men sat on the ground facing each other. He could feel no tension between them and no nerves from the man that sat before him, but then again this was Lord Sesshomaru; one would not expect of a man of his status and standing to ever be nervous.

The meeting between them was merely a formality. His mate had asked and he did not say no, it really did not make any sense to say no since some way or another he would have ended up in this room, with this man, having a conversation.

He sighed.

His mate really had a knack for getting what it was that she wanted.

Really, Yuuta felt no need to give him a talk, not the same way he felt the need to speak to his sons; he adored Sesshomaru and he knew he was strong and capable of doing for his daughter what was required.

He had seen them that day in the garden.

There was such an easy playfulness between them and she was in no way uncomfortable around Sesshomaru. He saw how much he loved his daughter, considering he seemed unable to stop kissing her. Yuuta smiled. He had been very affectionate. Yuuta had heard his statement about not caring whether or not he or his mate caught them engaged in such activities; it only said to him that Sesshomaru cared not to hide from the world what he felt for his daughter and Yuuta was glad to be obtaining a son-in-law who was proud enough to show off his love for his daughter.

He was a fine man, Sesshomaru, a fine man indeed.

Yuuta took a sip of his sake and turned his attention to his future son-in-law.

"My mate has asked me to have a discussion with you but frankly I find it unnecessary." Yuuta said.

Sesshomaru took a sip of his sake as well.

"Do you?" He asked.

Yuuta shrugged.

"I already believe you posses the qualities necessary to be worthy of my daughter." Yuuta stated bluntly.

Sesshomaru placed his sake on the ground before him and turned his eyes on his future father-in-law.

"And what, may I ask, are those qualities?" He inquired.

Yuuta sat and thought for a few moments before he answered.

"You respect her that much is fairly obvious and you respect me and my mate, something I must commend you for. I can tell you love my daughter very much. She has called you an arrogant bastard but I do not know if that is something she particularly likes. You are strong for certain, you are after all _the_ Lord Sesshomaru, and so I know you will be able to protect her. She told my mate and I about what you did when she was nervous about you meeting us, you know how to comfort her and that is important and you make her laugh and you make her happy. There is one mark against you though...you are a pervert." Yuuta concluded.

Sesshomaru smirked.

"You say this because?" He asked.

Yuuta raised a jet black eyebrow.

"Mayuri told us about your statement towards her upon your first meetings." He said with narrowed eyes.

Sesshomaru chuckled to himself; he found this little conversation to be quite amusing.

"Is there nothing that Mayuri does not tell you?" He asked.

Yuuta shook his head.

"Not one thing. However, your attitude towards my daughter has changed. Like I said you respect her and love her so your previous transgressions will be, somewhat, overlooked." He said.

Sesshomaru took up his sake and drained it, offering his cup to Yuuta for a refill.

Yuuta obliged.

"I am thankful to you then." Sesshomaru said after taking a sip.

"I shall tell you now what I have told all of my other daughters' mates: do not break her heart. As her father her heartbreak is therefore mine and even if she finds herself unable to hate you I sure as hell will find a way." Yuuta warned.

Sesshomaru took another sip of his sake.

"You will not take action against me?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

Yuuta chuckled before he himself took a sip of his sake.

"I know better than to challenge _the_ Lord Sesshomaru. I do need to be here to comfort my daughter in the event that you have hurt her." Yuuta said.

Sesshomaru raised his cup.

"I understand your sentiments. Your daughter is very dear to me; I promise you that I will try my hardest never to cause her pain."

oOo

A/N: Aha! I finally found a way to put separations in the chapters without them disappearing when they are posted :D.


	17. Chapter 17

Her small hands were on his broad shoulders, pressing ever so lightly against them. He could feel the tips of her claws through the fabric.

His heavy armour, which she had helped him remove, sat on the soft grass nearby, his swords and his obi lying next to it.

The air was cool and blew about them slowly and gently. The rippling sound of the water in the river as it travelled around and over rocks surrounded them. The fresh scent of nature enveloped them.

Her fingers tightened around the fabric of his haori and he felt the silken texture of it as it slid over his skin, off his shoulder and down his arms. She rested it on top of his armour. Her palm was on his back. He felt the smoothness of her skin as she ran her hand across his back as she walked around him, on his back, his arm and his chest.

And then she stood before him.

He did the same for her; slid her haori off her shoulders, kissing her as he did so.

Her hands were tucked into the waist of his hakama and mere moments later she was sliding them down his hips as they kissed, and without breaking away from it he stepped out of his hakama.

Her hands were on his shoulders once again and she slid the under layers of his clothing off his body and afterwards he did the same for her.

Their kiss was broken; their clothes lied in a heap on the soft, green grass.

He scooped her up into his arms, her arms coming around his neck, and he kissed her again as he carried her into the water.

He sat once the water was up to his navel and set her on his lap, her arms did not leave his neck, never once breaking their kiss until a few moments after settling down into the near ice cold waters of the river.

For the umpteenth time he found himself staring into her green eyes and studying her face. Those freckles that dotted her cheeks, how he loved them, just made the green of her eyes stand out even more, gave her a look of innocence that he knew was not of her character; she was feisty, stubborn and when she wanted to be, highly sexual.

He groaned; to see that side of her again.

He remembered their one and only sexual encounter, thus far. Her hands were skilful in their strokes of his erection and the way she licked his essence off of her fingers. It was not the first time a female had done that for him, hell he'd shot it right into their mouths and watched them swallow, watched women lick it off of another woman, but it was the first time he had ever been so _turned on_ by the sight of a woman consuming his essence. He had watched her tongue run the length of each and every one of her small, slim fingers, removing it from her skin as it went and he had watched the movement of her throat as she swallowed it down. He had seen the look in her eyes when she had done it; there was a teasing sort of element to her eyes then and pure erotic pleasure. He wanted to see her do that again and again and again.

Those freckles, how deceitful they were.

He groaned again.

"Do that again." She whispered into his neck, her head resting on his shoulder and her eyes closed.

He groaned as she had requested.

"You like that?" He asked almost teasingly.

He felt her nod against his shoulder before she said: "It's sexy."

He groaned again.

She shuddered in his arms and he felt her nipple move against his chest.

He bent his head down and buried his nose in her neck, his hair falling over his shoulder and onto her naked form that was curled up against his own, his eyes closed as he groaned once more. His lips brushed against the skin of her neck before his teeth sank ever so gently into it and his tongue ran over the now vaguely red area.

"I find it unfair that you have touched me," He heard her gasp when he slid his hand between her legs, spreading them apart, and lightly ran his claws up and down her inner thigh "And I have yet to touch you."

She shuddered in his arms as his claws glided over the smooth skin of her inner thigh.

"Hmmm." He moaned in her ear, purposely, his groin stirring to life at the reaction her body was having to his touch.

He ran his hand all the way up her thigh, lightly touching her womanhood as his hand passed by and finally came to rest on her breast. He squeezed it, gently, massaging it slowly in his hand with his thumb on her nipple, rubbing it in circles. Her breast was firm, yet soft enough that if he rested his head upon it he could simply drift off to sleep, her breast felt amazing in his hand. Slowly, gradually, he massaged her breast harder and harder as he continued to kiss, lick, suck and nibble on her neck. She was moaning in his ear and the sound only made him want her more, but not yet, they had to wait, their time had no come as yet and when it did...well....

He stood in the water, her breast still in his hand and walked over to one of the rocks sticking up out of the water, its top smooth, and rested Mayuri on top of it, spreading her legs apart and nestling himself comfortable between them, her warm thighs moving from around his waist to right beneath his arms as he got on his knees.

She looked down at him with eyes that swam with desire, her mouth slightly parted and her cheeks flaming red. Her jet black hair spilling over her left shoulder, the ends damp.

He kissed her then, the way she looked, the way she looked at him was far from resistible, his hand still on her breast and massaging it. He broke away and kissed her neck, then her collarbone and then her chest. He squeezed her breast and brought it to his lips, licking her nipple before bringing it between his teeth and gently pulling on it, sucking it afterwards. He felt her thighs tightened around him. He licked and sucked and licked and sucked as he massaged her breast, his free hand resting on her backside.

He licked her breast then kissed her again as his hand left her breast and joined its twin on her backside, squeezing the large muscle before breaking away from her lips. He stared into her green eyes as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth, anticipating what he would do next and he licked her mouth.

His hand left her backside and came to rest on top of her thigh. He continued to study her face. As his hand travelled slowly up her thigh, she bit harder and harder into her bottom lip until he lightly passed his finger over her most sensitive of areas and she closed her eyes as her thighs once again tightened around him. She opened her eyes and he did it again, teasing her. This time she gripped his shoulders as she closed her eyes and bit her lip, her entire body writhed and she titled her head backwards as she said: "Oh kami." He chuckled.

Once she opened her eyes again, he placed his thumb right on top of it and watched her face as she awaited his next move. Slowly, he gently pressed down and just as slowly as he did this her thighs once again tightened around him. He began to rub her in slow careful circles and her entire body shuddered as she exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She started to pant as he continued to rub her slowly.

Then he went faster, a lot faster, and he felt the muscles in her thighs tense as her body shook and she gripped his shoulders and moaned as she repeated the words "Oh kami" over and over and over.

She couldn't possibly have known the kind of affect watching her react to his touch had on him. The erection he had now, the one he had when they had been on the river bank trying desperately not to pounce on each other and just mate right there and then could not even compare. He was incredibly stiff and his body begged him to bury himself within her wetness so he could have some relief but he knew he had to fight the urge. As much as he just wanted to throw her down on the grass and take her again and again and again and again, he couldn't, at least not yet.

He slowed down and felt her thigh muscles relax and her body stop shaking as she moaned long and low and her fingers relaxed on his shoulders.

He stood, taking her hand and pulling her up as he did so. He switched positions with her, putting himself with his back to the rock he had just taken her off of and turned her around to back him. He sat with his back against the rock, pulling her down with him as went and positioned her between his legs, her back on his chest and his erection at her lower back and on her backside and her head on his shoulder. He spread her legs and placed her hand on his breast and the other between her thighs and started rubbing her again.

He did it slowly, but a little faster than before. She held onto the wrist of the hand that was on her breast and she moaned and writhed against him, rubbing her backside against his erection. He moaned into her ear and rubbed her faster, harder and she moaned louder and ground her backside harder against his erection and somehow he knew that she knew exactly what she was doing; rubbing her backside against him like that...she had to know that she was pleasuring him immensely in doing so.

His fingers left her, now swollen and unbelievably sensitive and went farther south until he found her entrance and slid two long fingers deep within her. He decided not to tease her this time and went right for it; moving his fingers inside her hard, fast, rough and she was moaning louder than ever, grinding her backside against him harder than ever and he was panting faster and faster into her ear as she moved against him.

Dear kami if this was what it was going to be like between them, this passionate, this rough, this loud, this pleasurable, this amazing! He could not wait to get her on her back and make her scream his name over and over as he took her hard, fast, deep and without holding anything back, to bend her over and spank her beautiful behind as he took her, to have her on top of him and watch her face as he pleasured her and watch her breasts dance for him. Dear kami he wanted her more than ever.

Her grip on his wrist tightened and her thigh muscles tightened as she suddenly went quiet. Moments later he felt her contract around his fingers as she arched her back and her entire body writhed against him as a lengthy moan passed from her lips as she had her orgasm. When it was over she simply lied against him, eyes still closed as she breathed deeply for a few minutes. He withdrew his fingers and as she rested he kissed and nuzzled her neck, closing her legs with his own as he sat with her in the river, his back against the rock as he embraced her.


	18. Chapter 18

She was standing in the large field of flowers of numerous kinds alone. She was slightly nervous, well maybe more than slightly, and the only thing that seemed to calm her nerves was playing with the ends of her hair, which she kept fixing almost every second. She opened her mouth, taking in a deep breath and then releasing it. She hoped he would return soon so she could get this over with, her nerves were starting to get the best of her.

He had gone to retrieve the little girl called Rin, his ward, the most valuable person on the planet to him save herself, and it was knowing that this little girl meant so much to him that had her so nervous; suppose she messed up and Rin didn't like her? Surely Sesshomaru would second guess making her his mate if his ward felt her unworthy of him. What if she messed up and made the little girl afraid of her? Or something else that would change Sesshomaru's mind about making her his mate?

All of the many different ways this could go played over and over again in her mind, at least all the different ways it could go _wrong_.

She pouted as she looked down at the flowers at her bare feet and continued to play with the ends of her hair. Really, she needed to calm herself down; it wouldn't be so bad, she just had to be herself, and if Rin didn't like her then…well…fine! And if because Rin didn't like her he decided not to mate her well then that's fine too. She had survived so long without a mate, she could survive longer…but it was the first the option had really been there; to have a mate.

She sighed.

He really was the first person she actually felt like she _could_ spend all eternity with, and then for that to just disappear, in an instant, because a little girl didn't' like her…it was quite disheartening. But she could understand how the girl would feel if he did mate her anyway, considering that she was going to return to him in the future; if her parents were to mate someone she didn't approve of or like, having to live with that person e_very single day_ would be very hard indeed, seeing him/her fawn over her mother/father would be sickening, having them discipline her would infuriate her and especially if her mother/father took their side, to have everything change because of this one new person who meant nothing to her and everything to her parent and then it would hurt her even more if they just went ahead and got mated without even telling her, if they changed everything and blind sighted her.

So she could also understand why Sesshomaru was doing this; he didn't want Rin to be caught off guard, he didn't want her to be stuck with someone she could possible come to dislike just because he said he loved her. He was being considerate of the girl's feelings.

Mayuri continued to play with the ends of her hair as she looked down at the flowers and smiled.

That was an excellent quality for a good parent and she had no doubt in her mind that Sesshomaru would be a _fantastic_ father.

She allowed herself to think of a future she was, at present, not sure would even exist. She pictured herself and Sesshomaru, sitting on a bench in a garden similar to that of her parents, each holding a small child as they watched their older, yet still young children, play and then they would look at each other with such love in their eyes and as their kissed, their children would express their disgust at witnessing such an act of affection occurring between their parents right before their young eyes.

She sighed again, a dreamy sigh.

That was the future she wanted with her Sesshomaru, the man that she had come to love after having such a deep loathing for him, a man who she saw as only an arrogant bastard. She still thought of him as an arrogant bastard of course, but now she could see that he was so much more than that; he had his redeeming qualities.

She smiled.

Arrogant? Yes.

Heartless? No. Hell no!

She picked up his scent on the air and that of the little girl's; she smelled nice, like the flowers in this field. Mayuri could guess she spent a lot of time here. She could not blame the child, it was absolutely beautiful here, with its light pastels of red, yellow, orange, blue, purple and green, and even to a human's nose, far weaker than that of a youkai, the combined scents of the flowers was simply divine. It was an eden.

As their scents grew stronger, as they got closer, her fingers fiddled with the ends of her hair faster and she slowly bit into her bottom lip harder and harder. So much for giving herself a pep talk, she was still incredibly nervous.

She took a deep breath when they came into her line of sight, Rin standing next to Sesshomaru with her hands behind her back, trying, almost unsuccessfully, to calm herself and she was sure that from where he stood, Sesshomaru could see her nerves, since when they finally came upon her and he stood at her side, he placed a comforting hand on the small of her back.

"Hello." Mayuri said with a nervous smile.

Rin simply smiled and removed her hands from behind her back, offering Mayuri a bouquet of flowers very similar to the one Sesshomaru had given her, except the ribbon on it was blue this time.

"Hello Mayuri-san." Rin said.

"Oh." Mayuri said as she took the bouquet from Rin, surprised by the way the girl addressed her, but in no way offended. "You already know my name?"

Rin nodded eagerly.

"Sesshomaru-sama told Rin and he said that you are very special to him." Rin said as if it were a generally known fact.

At that Mayuri looked up at him and he merely gave her small smile. Her attention returned to the small girl that stood in front of her, smile still planted on her face as she held her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

Mayuri smiled.

Rin's smile grew wider.

"So you've been with Sesshomaru for a long time I assume." Mayuri said.

Rin nodded.

"Sesshomaru-sama saved Rin's life and now Rin will stay with Sesshomaru-sama forever." Rin said, again making what she said sound as if it were a generally known fact.

"Oh." Mayuri said again, once more surprised by the young girl but this time it was because of the pride behind her words and the very apparent devotion she felt towards Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru sat himself down among the flowers, taking Mayuri's hand and pulling her down with him before settling her between his legs.

Rin sat down as well.

"Rin can see how much Sesshomaru-sama loves Mayuri-san." She said almost with a sigh and with a smile.

Mayuri felt Sesshomaru's hand on her hair, stroking it slowly and gently as his chin came to rest on the crown of her head.

"Yes, I love her very much." He stated in the same generally-known-fact, tone that Rin had used. Had she gotten in from him? Or maybe him from her?

Mayuri blushed at his words.

"And I love Sesshomaru-sama very much." She said imitating how Rin addressed him.

She placed her hand on his thigh and rubbed her thumb in small circles against it as she shifted her body slightly in order to look up at him, into his amber eyes that were at that moment, glowing.

When Mayuri turned back to Rin she jumped, the young girl was on her knees right in front of her with that smile that never seemed to fade planted firmly on her cute face.

"If Sesshomaru-sama loves Mayuri-san, then Rin loves Mayuri-san too."

And then unexpectedly, Rin threw her arms around Mayuri and pulled her into a hug, and she hugged her as if she were someone she had known and loved her entire life, not someone she had just met. Mayuri closed her arms around the girls back and looked up and Sesshomaru once again. The expression on his face, a rarity that he would actually have an expression on his face, almost made her burst into tears.

He looked so…happy, elated even.

The smile on his face, the look in his eyes, the air around him…it was all just so _happy_. But it was so much more than just happiness, it was something far greater than that and she knew exactly what it was; this little girl that he had cherished for so long, had accepted the woman that had entered his heart, the woman he loved with a deep and burning passion and she had accepted the little girl two, almost literally with open arms. The two people that mattered most to him in the world, the two people he loved, he was sure, would grow to eventually love each other in the same way a mother loved her daughter and daughter loved her mother.

It was more than happiness. Her Sesshomaru…felt _whole._

She could see it in his eyes; his life was now complete.


	19. Chapter 19

The introductions had gone better than he could have expected; Rin had accepted Mayuri whole heartedly, putting full faith in Sesshomaru's judgment of her character and her worth as a mate, and Mayuri was so stunned by the simplicity of the young girls statements that she really had nothing to say, but he knew that his soon-to-be-mate, had accepted the little girl and for the pure and simple fact that Rin was a colossal part of his life and, apart from Mayuri, the most important person to him.

He owed Rin much thanks; without her he would not have come to learn to value the lives of human beings, he would not have to learn compassion and he knew, without Rin, without his compassion, he would not have been able to come to love Mayuri the way he did. Rin, in essence, was the reason he was able to find his perfect mate.

With Rin and with Mayuri, he had basically started his own little family, a family he was sure, once he got his hands on Mayuri, would continue to grow, she did say she wanted an army of children and he was more than happy to oblige.

Speaking of his soon-to-be-mate, now that the introductions had gone ever so smoothly and he knew that his life had reached a level of completeness he had only once imagined for himself, when he sought after Tesusaiga, he had no reasons what so ever _not_ to make Mayuri his mate as soon as possible. There was nothing stopping him now, nothing standing in his way. Their time had most absolutely come and he was more than ready to seize the earliest opportunity he would have in order to do to Mayuri, with Mayuri, what he had been thinking about since the first time he laid eyes on her, what he had been wanting to do for all the time that he had known her.

His perverted little thoughts concerning her had never gone away; they were simply in the back of his mind rather than the very obvious fore front they had been in those first few weeks he had known her.

The more time he had spent with her, the more he had gotten to know her and the more he got to know her the more he found other things about Mayuri to be attracted to rather than her physical aspects; her stubbornness – he chuckled – the most apparent of her personality traits and maybe even his favourite; the fact that she was stubborn meant that she would stay true to her ideals, would not allow anyone to change her mind for her, would be strong enough to be independent and that same independence that stemmed from her stubbornness, was so blatantly apparent when he witnessed her at home with her parents; her independence meant that she would not rely on him for anything, which he greatly appreciated; Sesshomaru did not want a mate who was totally dependent on him for everything, not like some female who only wanted him because of his title and wealth, she had to be able to do her own thing. She had a compassionate nature that only told him that was extremely loving and caring and those were two, if not three, things that he needed in a mate, if she was going to be the mother of his children, which he already had planned for Mayuri. He smiled when he remembered her statement about the children they would have together; enough to raise an army and take over Japan.

He had come to appreciate almost every minute detail about her physical appearance as well; like the freckles on her face, which he had studied many a time, that he knew exactly how many of them were sprinkled across her nose and cheeks – twenty-one – and the way one of her shoulders was slightly higher than the other, how her bottom lip was fuller, almost unnoticeably, than her top lip, that her feet were always dirty from walking around barefoot (which to him signalled a slight hint of bohemianism in her personality), her jet-black hair was not as bone straight as it had appeared when he had first met her, it was actually quite wavy and that she had freckles on the backs of her hands and on her feet, something that he had never before seen.

Each of these, from her stubbornness and compassion to her freckles and her wavy hair, were things that Sesshomaru could not help but love about Mayuri, among an almost infinite list of other things.

And soon these would be a permanent part of his immortal life, all that was left for him to do now was to mate her, mark her, claim her as his and no one else's in the entire world for all eternity and with Rin on his side, the transition would be as smooth as silk.

There was a smile in his heart.

The completeness he now felt, as he pondered on it, he realised that even if he had gotten his claws on Tesusaiga he would not have felt like this; complete yes, but not as much, _nowhere _near as much. He knew that he would have obtained it and quickly moved on to the next thing to give him that sense of fulfilment, but he knew that in his life with Mayuri and their family he would never feel like that was not enough, he would not feel unsatisfied or unhappy because he knew that his life with Mayuri and their future children would be the happiest years of his entire life and knew that she felt the same way.

He looked over, and down considering how much shorter she was compared to him, to her now, walking beside him, and took her hand in his.

oOo

They were on their way back to…well, she didn't really know. Her parents' house? His house? They had just started walking without the mention of their destination; Mayuri just followed him where he was going. They hadn't talked to each other either, they were both pretty much lost in their own thoughts, but she had no problem with that since it was how they usually were, there wasn't that much conversation between her and Sesshomaru and, it was quite comforting, that Mayuri did not feel the need to fill the silent voids that stretched between them ever so often with useless conversation, it wasn't awkward silence at all really, she was quite comfortable when those silences fell.

It wasn't so much as they didn't want to talk to each other and they had nothing to talk about, it was just that they just weren't talking and something that she noticed in Sesshomaru that was very similar to herself, was that he spent most of his time inside his own head. He really only spoke when he had a comment to make or something to say, or something to express, but other than that Sesshomaru barely spoke; he only really spoke when he needed to.

Mayuri was okay with it though, she could not see Sesshomaru as a small talk type of person... Sesshomaru _wasn't_ a small talk type of person. She guessed he would deem small talk as really very useless and just an excuse for people to wag their tongues when clearly the other person/persons were in no way interested in having a conversation with them. That seemed to her like a Sesshomaru type thought or comment.

But then again she could not imagine someone trying to make small talk with Sesshomaru either, he was so intimidating. Simply standing next to him would have any person sweaty and shaking with nervousness and how could anyone in that state put together two intelligible words, let alone make small talk. That was the kind of presence her Sesshomaru had and she was actually quite pleased with it; it would be quite amusing to watch people quiver in fear just by being in the same room as her mate, well future mate.

She might as well have started calling him her mate now; she knew their time had most certainly come. She could feel it in the air that surrounded them; his anticipation and her own. Mating was what they had been resisting all this time and what they had come to want even more thanks to their two past sexual experiences with each other, her pleasuring him and his pleasuring of her (which was only a few days prior).

The way he had made her body feel…she closed her eyes as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth as she remembered every sensation that had flowed throw her veins and he touched her, made her writhe and moan; it had only made her want to go through the full experience with him even more than she already had! To feel his fingers, his lips, his body on hers once again and have him do so much more to her than he had that one time, that first time, he had touched her body in such a sensual way.

She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth again.

How she yearned to have him make her feel that way again; for him to make her release with such an intensity that her entire body quivered and became tired, exhausted, for him to bring her feel so much pleasure that her body tensed under it, that she had to curl her toes and bite her lip and drive her claws into his skin, that she wanted to bite him, scratch him, moan and scream his name, sob tearless sobs.

Mayuri took a deep breath, her thoughts getting away from her for a second.

That was how bad she wanted him; to the point that just thinking about how much she wanted him made her thoughts concerning it run rampant in her head. That was the power of her desire, of her need.

She felt him intertwine his fingers in her own and looked him at him, finding him looking down at her, and with the smirk that crept across his face she knew that her facial expression had told him of what she had been thinking. She felt her face grow hot.

It was then that he halted his steps and pulled her into him in one swift, smooth motion, pulling her into him and placing his hand on her cheek as he tilted her head backwards. The movement was so sudden that she gasped before his lips came down on hers. He removed his fingers from between hers and she felt his hand on the small of her back, sliding down to her behind and grabbing himself a handful of the soft flesh before he started to caress it in wide circles, applying the slightest bit of pressure as he did so.

She raised herself up on her toes and kissed him deeper, knowing full well where he was intending to go with this, but she was not have their first time be in a place like this, oh no she was not; she would not have that at all. Their first time together would have to be special and absolutely memorable; she was a hopeless romantic after all. Every other time after that they could do it wherever, whenever, however, because to her, their first time would be all about fully expressing their love for each other in the most passionate and absolute of ways, and seeing as they were going into this expecting to come out as mates that made it all the more important for it _to be special_; for her this was the equivalent of a human's "wedding night".

Of course all of the other times it would still be an expression of their love in a passionate and absolute way but the first time, well, it was the _first time_ and it was a universal truth that first times are _always_ meant to be special and unregrettable. So, because of that, they would not do it here. They would not do it this way.

She pulled away from his lips, rather reluctantly and took a deep breath as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Sesshomaru, let's find an inn."

He raised an eyebrow and then that smirk was on his face again.

"Very well." He said and with that, he threw her onto his back and ran to the nearest youkai village with an inn.

* * *

A/N: Eithne19 has an announcement to make: when this story is done, which is kind of soon, we shall have a sequel, I repeat, we shall have a sequel XD. Good idea or bad idea? Lemme know. Won't reveal the title until this story is done because then it will give away what it will be about. AWESOME?


	20. Chapter 20

He stood before her, his armour and sword already discarded, but within reach. She took a step towards him, cheeks flaming red, and placed her small, slim fingered hands on his shoulders as his arms, long and muscular, came around her waist, pulled her tight to his own heated body, before she rose up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his slightly parted pair. Despite the fact that the kiss was in no way rough, there was still just as much passion within it as if it had been; it was slow, gentle, patient. As they kissed one of his arms left her waist, roaming slowly and lightly up her back, making her moan – which only made him groan – as his hand came to rest in her smooth, jet-black hair.

His lips left hers then and he kissed her cheek, making his way to her earlobe and pulling it between his teeth. He felt her fingers tighten against his shoulders and heard her breath leave her mouth in a titillating shudder that sent chills down his spine and blood into his groin. Her neck was next to suffer the blissful pleasures that came from his teeth. Each time they sank gently into her flesh, a small red mark was left behind, a mark which he licked before proceeding to bite her again. Each small bite made her breath leave her with a shudder.

Her hands slid down his hard chest and grabbed the fabric of his haori at his waist, pulling it up and out of his hakama and over his obi. She slid her hands up and under his haori and the layers of clothing that lied beneath it, before moving her hands down his broad shoulders and removing all that covered his upper torso, kept it from her sight and her touch, in one slow movement, leaving them to hang off of his arms (currently occupied with her waist and her hair). She returned her arms to his shoulders.

Feeling the weight of the fabric as it hung off of his arms, he removed said parts of his lean body from her waist and hair as well as removing his teeth from her neck. He allowed the fabric to slip away from his arms and form a heap of red and white on the dark wood floor. His arm returned to her waist, while the other came around her back, his hand resting on the top her head as his fingers wrapped around her hair before he titled her head back slowly, exposing her neck to him. In one, almost painfully slow, stroke of his tongue he licked her from the base of her neck to the tip of her chin, curling his tongue back into his mouth as he watched her eyes close as she bit her lip and as her fingers tightened on his shoulders as her body tensed against him.

"Sesshomaru." She whispered.

"Mmm." The response rumbled in his throat as he gently bit her exposed neck.

Her fingers loosened on his shoulders. She slid her hands down to his chest, her palms placed firmly against it and she pushed him down onto his back on the cold ground, his arms tightening around her as he fell backwards, taking her down with him as she landed right on top of him. She saw his lips pull into a smirk and she produced one herself; she knew he had forgotten how strong she was. She adjusted the position of her legs, placing his body between her thighs before she pushed herself up and off of his chest, straddling him and resting her behind that he loved so much on the erection he was already sporting, shifting her clothing so that she was not sitting on it.

He pulled himself up into a sitting position, his head beneath her chin and almost level with her breasts whose nipples were clearly visible beneath her clothing. His hands came on her thighs and roamed up and under her clothes, one hand finding its way to her backside as it caressed and kneaded its softness and the other travelling further up and cupping her breast as he pulled her nipple into his mouth, licking, sucking and nibbling it through the thin layer of silk that covered it. He heard the moan that rose in her throat and stopped behind her closed lips.

As his hands and mouth worked on her body, she ran her claws lightly up his arms, down his back and then up his back and down his arms. She did this repeatedly and each pass made him shudder and groan and grip her behind and breast harder in a pleasurably painful way. Her toes curled, her back arched and her eyes closed as he continued to work on her body, hot with the seemingly warmer than usual blood that was pumping through her veins. It was glorious; the sensations he made her feel that started in her chest and travelled down into her pelvis, as he nibbled and sucked on her nipple, pooling in a warm, wonderful wetness that she could feel on her thighs and no doubt he could feel on his. Her hands made their way up his arms once again, but did not go down his back; they travelled up his neck and into his hair. She grabbed onto the silver locks and pulled his head away from her breast, tilting it backwards and planting her lips on his in a slow and passionate kiss. Her hands left his hair and went to her clothing, untying her obi and throwing it into the corner before she slid the silk fabric from her shoulders, leaving her completely naked before him.

Their kiss was broken and he took the opportunity to study her; her cheeks, hell her _entire body_ was flushed and her chest, upon which rested her supple breasts, heaved with every shallow breath she took. He returned his mouth to her now uncovered nipple. She sighed as he returned to his task. His hand that had been tending to her soft behind left it, moving between her thighs as Sesshomaru slid two long fingers deep within her wetness, moving them in an out in a rhythm that matched his suckling as his thumb rubbed her most sensitive of areas. Just like when he'd done this before, the muscles in her thighs tensed and she wrapped them tighter around his body, as she moaned and rested her chin atop his head. He felt her hands in his hair and on his back, her claws digging into his skin but not hard enough to draw blood. The moans that vibrated in her throat, so close to his ears, made the blood pump harder into his groin as he pleasured her.

She bit her lip, her eyes closed as she moaned over and over again. His fingers and his mouth working their magic on her body. She didn't even know when he'd become in control of the situation, when he got on the giving and not the receiving end and she really didn't care, the only thing that she was focused on was how incredible he was making her body feel at the moment. Her thighs tightened around him ever so slightly every time his long fingers slid in and out of her, the muscles in her legs tensing little by little; in fact almost every muscle in her body was tensed at this point. She could feel a knot pulling tighter and tighter deep within her core.

Her hand slid away from his back, over his shoulder and down his chest and past his stomach. She wrapped her fingers around his erection and squeezed it gently, harder enough for him to like it and soft enough so he would not feel pain. She pressed her body against his, pushing him down onto his back as she stroked his hard length and he did not resist. She smirked. Maybe he didn't have time to think about resisting, maybe he was in the same state of mind as she was, pleasure clouding her thoughts. Once he was on his back, she pulled herself into a sitting position, removing her nipple from his mouth. He groaned in protest and she placed her finger against his lips, which he parted and pulled her finger into his mouth. She giggled as he did this, continuing to slide his fingers in and out of her.

She took his wrist and pulled his fingers from within her, raising them to her lips and drawing them inside her mouth. She felt his thigh muscles tighten beneath her, felt his erection twitch and watched as his eyelids grew heavier with desire and need, all the while never once halting her strokes of his erection. Mayuri pulled her finger from his mouth, but not without a bit of a game of tug-of-war, and slid the lone digit down his body and up his erection. He shuddered. She opened her hand, resting her palm on her stomach before she slid it up her body and cupped her breast, kneading it slowly for Sesshomaru to see.

She was teasing him and he knew it, touching herself as she pleasured him and looking him right in his eyes as she did it. There was no denying that her actions were doing far more than simply making him harder, oh no, he wanted to plunge his length deep within the warm of her wetness with an almost irresistible need now, and her she was teasing him, making him suffer almost. He started to get back up, put himself up right, but she only pushed him back down, gently, shaking her head and waving her finger at him. He watched as she shifted her body, getting on her knees between his legs, hand still stroking him, before she leaned her body downward, her jet-black curtain of silky hair falling past her shoulders.

Her hand stopped on his erection, right at its head, and not a moment passed before he felt her tongue making its way up his length. He shuddered and groaned at the warmth of her tongue, the bliss her lick had made him feel. She kissed it then; from head to base and base to head, licking the sensitive tip of his erection only seconds before she slid it into her mouth. He groaned once more as her lips moved down his shaft and up again, her tongue doing the same. Before he knew what he was doing his fingers were in her hair and he was groaning over and over as her mouth slid up and down his length, not at all slow but not fast either.

He lifted his head off of the floor and looked down to watch her suck on his length and found her staring at him, right into his eyes. He smirked and raised his hips an inch or so off of the floor, making her stop the movements of her head as he slid his erection deep into her mouth until all of him was in her mouth. He knew a good portion of his erection was down her throat; he could feel it on his head; warm, tight and soft. He rested his head back on the floor and breathed a lengthy sigh. It was his turn now to be pleasured and he loved every second of it.

In desperate need of air she quickly removed him from her mouth, stroking it as she breathed heavily, catching her breath. He sat up, propping himself up on one arm, his other hand still in her hair, and watched as she slid her mouth over his erection once again, but he didn't give her the time to start sucking; he moved his hips up and down, sliding his erection in and out of her warm mouth, thrusting it into her throat for only a few seconds before he withdrew it slowly to let her catch her breath. As he did this, he watched her; almost hypnotised by the way her head moved with each of his thrusts. He held her hair tighter, holding her head in place as he slowly slid his erection into her mouth, pushing it deep into her throat and leaving it there. He closed his eyes and moaned, completely immersed in the feeling of being so deep in her throat before sliding it out of her mouth completely.

"I do believe I promised you something." He said with a smirk.

She looked at him curiously as he rose from his position on the ground. She sat back on her knees and watched as he walked around her, standing behind her before he got down on his knees. She left his hand on her hip, the other on the middle of her back before he pushed her down on all fours. And then she knew what he meant. Not long after the realisation hit her, his hand came down hard on her behind; making a loud smacking sound as he rubbed the area his hand had landed on. His hand left her behind and not long afterward, he'd spanked her again and she gasped; completely surprised that the pain wasn't in anyway unpleasant. He spanked her again and again and again, changing cheeks with each spanking and rubbing the area once he had. By the time he was done, she was sure her behind was a bright, shining red.

Promise kept, Sesshomaru positioned himself directly behind Mayuri, his erection right by her entrance and placed both his hands on her behind. Slowly he slid his erection inside her and squeezed her behind once he heard her moan. He took a few seconds to enjoy the feel of being insider her; finally! This is what he had wanted all along; to plunge himself into her depths and pleasure her, ravish her until her name was repeatedly on her lips, screaming it over and over as he made her reach her peak again and again. She impatiently rubbed her behind against him and he felt his erection twitch insider her. He knew that she knew what effect doing that would have on him, other than getting her point across.

He leaned forward, resting his chest on her back as he slid his hand beneath her to cup her breast and slowly started to thrust in and out of her, in no way in a rush to end this as soon as possible and satisfied when he heard her moan again, responding with his own low groan.

She sighed as she felt him moving in and out of her, as he fondled her breast and the knot she had felt earlier pulled tighter and tighter in her core. Her claws were digging into the wood, long scratch marks scarring its beauty. Her eyes were closed as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth, muffling her moans. Her toes curled and her muscles tensed, almost like they were anticipating those final spasms of blissful pleasure. Beneath the sounds of her moaning and his grunting and groaning was a soft, squishy sound.

He groaned in her ear again and again, knowing how much she loved to hear the sound. She felt so incredibly warm and soft and tight and wet! Her body was like his own personal haven that he could escape to whenever he pleased. He pressed his cheek against hers and moved his mouth to her neck, biting and licking as he had before. The moan that passed from her lips at that moment was louder than the previous ones and he rewarded her with a louder groan of his own.

"Harder." She whispered.

He slid himself off her back, removing his hand from her breast and placing it on her behind, grabbing the soft flesh harder than he had before as he did ask as she requested. Her moans now were louder, wilder and each small sound made his blood pump faster, sending pleasure through his body only that much more. A light sheen of sweat had started to cover their hot bodies and his bangs were sticking to his forehead, her hair to her back. He rubbed his hand against her backside and spanked her again, she only gasped and lunged forward at the sudden slap but he only pulled her back onto him before she could get too far.

She had forgotten how fond he was of spanking, the images he had planted in her head of the act almost like distant memories. She could not complain though, she had liked it. She felt his hands move from her behind and grasped her hips; they had started to slip from her behind, the sweat on her body making it harder to hold onto her from there. Her arms were staring to grow sore under the weight of her body and she got down on her elbows, changing the angle at which he thrust into her slightly and only made it feel that much better. She removed her lip from between her teeth and her moans, no longer muffled, were slightly louder.

The knot in her core was so tight now it was almost painful. She knew what would come next. In the space of a few seconds, the pleasure she was feeling grew more and more intense. She held her breath as it continued to build and with one long, low groan as her body shudder and her walls contracted around his erection, Mayuri reached her peak. And as she did Sesshomaru slowed his thrusts, groaning as he did so.

He waited for her shuddering to come to end, waited for her body to relax. Once her breathing was almost back to normal, he slid out of her and put her on her back. He lowered himself between her legs, sliding himself back inside her, as her legs came around his back, before he leaned into her, pressing his chest against her breasts and kissed her, moving insider her harder and faster than before. Continuous groans rumbled in his throat as he continued to ravish her. She moaned into his mouth again and again, more sensitive now that she had released.

Her hands were on his back, holding onto him as he continued to pleasure her, her claws digging into his skin. He felt her thighs tense on his back and knew he was driving her to peak again. He broke their kiss, looking down into her green eyes as she looked up into his amber pair. Her thighs grew tenser and tenser on his back. The pleasure he felt was building, intensifying and then within moments they were both groaning as he spilled his seed within her and her walls contracted on his erection once again. Both their bodies shook under their orgasms.

Sesshomaru's lips parted and so did Mayuri's. He leaned down into her neck and sank his fangs into her shoulder at the same time that she sunk hers into his.

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A/N: Only one more chapter and the epilogue to go XD


	21. Chapter 21

She looked out onto the glossy, blue-black surface of the river; the only part of it that did bear the blue-black colouring was the part on which the moon's reflection had shone, a small white dot upon the water's surface.

As she sat between his lean, long legs, one of his arms over her shoulder and the other around her waist, her head on his chest and his hair on her arm, both of them completely naked, she turned her attention from the water and looked up at his face. The light of the moon, so soft, so beautiful and bright, made his pale skin glow in an almost hauntingly beautiful way. He looked so ethereal and perfect and amazingly handsome. This male whom she stared at, who held her in his arms, was absolutely hers for all eternity.

Her hand went to her shoulder, where only an hour before he had bitten her and marked her as his, when he had made her his mate. It was still slightly tender the touch, but at least it did not hurt as much as it had at first. The blood that had rolled down her back and chest had since been cleaned; that was how they had come to sit at the edge of this river. They had gone to clean themselves up, remove the blood from their bodies and the dirt from the floor of the room. The river was only about a stone's throw from the inn, anyone one of its patrons could look out from their room and see the two newly mated lovers in all their naked glory, but they did not care, all that mattered was the two of them, together, sharing in that lovely little moment.

She felt his lips on her shoulder then, kissing the mark he had placed upon her skin, the mark that she was sure was still a very bright red.

"Mine." He growled into her ear, the possessive tone vibrating in his throat.

She twisted around in his arms, coming around to face him as she positioned herself with her legs around his waist; straddling him. Her hands rested on his head, her fingers tangling in his hair as she titled his head backwards. She rubbed her nose against her mark and inhaled his scent, autumn, and ran her tongue along his shoulder and up the side of his neck to his cheek.

"Mine." She growled in his ear, just as possessively as he had said his own statement.

His arms came around her waist and before she knew it she was on her back on the grass, Sesshomaru hovering over her and staring into her green eyes, nestled comfortably between her thighs.

"Ready to ravish me again?" She asked with a smirk, raising her head up off of the ground and planting a kiss on his lips.

As their tongues danced his hands slid up her waist and over her breasts, going to her shoulders and onto her arms, pushing them up above her head. He broke their lips apart and once again stared into her green eyes. There was something about the way he was looking at he, it was different from all the other times he had stared into her eyes, the emotion there was almost completely different. His silver hair cascading over his shoulders, pooling at the sides of her head and mixing with her jet-black locks.

"We shall do that soon enough." He said; his voice different as well.

"Wha-" She was cut off by his lips on her own.

This kiss was different from all the others; it was slow, gentle, soft, passionate, yes...but it still felt different from all the others even if it was pretty much the same. It was like something had changed in him since they had mated.

"Sesshomaru?" She asked once their lips had parted, slightly worried now.

He only remained silent, rubbing the tip of his nose against her own, her cheek, her forehead, her chin, while he kept his eyes closed. She felt his breath against her neck, heard them leaving his chest in shudders. He was just silent. And it wasn't like silence wasn't a common thing with them but this silence, was like everything else, different, as if it were filled with things that needed to be said, needed to be heard.

"You are unlike any female I have ever encountered, Mayuri."

The words left his lips.

He had spent the last hour, sitting by this river's edge, thinking about how he had ended up there; not just how he had literally gotten to the river, but the events that took place, and culminated in him being mated to this beautiful woman who lied beneath him; a woman so unique and unbelievable, part of him felt like at any moment he would awaken from a dream. The journey he had taken, to find himself bound to one such as her for all eternity, seemed almost surreal.

For one, she had despised him so completely upon their first meeting, found him so loathsome and perverted...and now she loved him unconditionally. How could one person go from one extreme emotion to another in such a seamless way. It seemed as if her earlier emotions were simply a distant memory in her mind, which in fact they should have been by now he supposed; they had meet quite a few months prior to this moment. He himself had gone from lust to love without even realising it himself; from pure carnal desire to an actual emotional attachment to another living being and a damn strong one at that.

There had only been three people who could have possibly stood in the way of this happening; Kohana, Yuuta and Rin and they had all accepted the relationship between him and Mayuri without even the slightest of second thoughts.

Sesshomaru was in no way having second thoughts about having mated Mayuri, he was simply awed by the journey they had taken and what it had led to; the greatest moment of his hundreds of years of life.

"Sesshomaru?" He heard her voice, worry think in her tone.

He opened his eyes, slowly, taking in her face milimetre by milimetre. The worry he had heard in her voice was he could now see clearly in his eyes. He had worried her. How foolish of him to allow his thoughts, his actions, to stir such an emotion in her when it was such an unnecessary emotion at the moment. He removed his fingers from around her left wrist and brought his palm to rest on her cheek, his fingers in her hair and his thumb on her pink lips.

"I love you." He whispered to her.

A small smile crept across her face as the worry slowly vanished from her eyes. He felt her hand on the back of his, pressing it closer to her face as she turned her head, and placed a kiss on his open palm as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too," she whispered "What were you thinking?" She rubbed her nose against his palm, eyes still closed.

He kissed her cheek, her skin turned red once his lips were removed from it.

"About how beautiful you are. How wonderful it is to have you. How unreal this all has been, even now." He said slowly.

She moaned.

"Like if all the time we've spent together has been nothing but a delightful dream?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Exactly like that." He told her.

She turned her face away from his palm and opened her eyes, staring right up at him, into his amber orbs.

"I was thinking the same thing, not too long ago." She admitted.

His brow raised in piqued curiosity.

"And your thoughts now?" He asked.

"That I love you more than I could possibly comprehend," Her palm came to rest on his cheek "That even though this all seems so unbelievable, its undoubtedly real. That hundreds, thousands, millions of years from now I'll still be just as happy as I am right now in this very moment. That even though you seem unable to understand what has happened here, it doesn't change the fact that you love me."

"Mmm. I could say the very same for you." He rubbed his nose against her cheek, eyes closed.

"I know." She said, eyes closed as well as he continued to caress her cheek.

She giggled.

"I found you to be such the arrogant bastard at first." She said with a smile.

Sesshomaru withdrew his nose from her cheek, pulling back to look into her face.

"And now?" He asked, curiosity piqued once again.

She giggled then bit her lip.

"Still think you're an arrogant bastard," She got up on her elbows and licked the tip of his nose "But you're my arrogant bastard now."

"Mmm." Was his only response.

His hand slid down her arm and her face, over her breasts and her rib cage to her waist where he held her. In the blink of an eye he had her turned over on all fours and had himself positioned behind her, his erection pressing against her behind.

"I do believe I owe you a ravishing."

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A/N; This is the last chapter, later this week, hopefully Friday, the epilogue will be posted. It shall set up the plot for the sequel, the name of which, still will not be revealed. You have to wait until the epilogue has been posted :P


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